Delaware ranks highest in the nation for unintended pregnancies according to a report from the Guttmacher Institute.
Its report, “Unintended Pregnancy Rates at the State Level,” published last month, looked at data for women aged 15–44 from 2002 to the 2008. The study finds that 61 percent of all Delaware pregnancies in 2008 were unintended. According to the study, more than half of pregnancies in 31 of the 50 states in 2008 were unintended.
Delaware's Division of Public Health, however, disputes the study's claims. Spokesperson Emily Knearl says the report is skewed due to Delaware's small population.
“We actually look at it from a five-year rolling average. So, it’s not just teen pregnancies that we do the five-year rolling average with: we do it with most of our statistical data," said Knearl. "It’s because Delaware is so small you can have 20 teen pregnancies and that could jump your number enormously, where it’s not really representative of what’s going on.”
Emily Knearl adds Delawares data shows the state has actually made progress in reducing teen pregnancy rates over the last decade.
“Regardless of what the report says - and, again, Delaware doesn’t agree with the ranking and the numbers - it’s just really important to say at this point: regardless of who is ranking us where we’ve got to continue the trend of reducing teen pregnancy. We’ve made a huge amount of progress in the last ten years and we can’t take our foot off the gas,” said Knearl.
According to the report, Delaware ranked number one in unintended pregnancies with 70 per 1000 in 2008. New Hampshire held the lowest rate that year with 31 per 1000.
