Eva M. Clayton: “I am here this evening to really report good news and bad news on the level of teen pregnancy. Because we care about our…”

“I am here this evening to really report good news and bad news on the level of teen pregnancy. Because we care about our young people, and because they care about themselves, we must celebrate the good news and work to improve the bad. Mr. Speaker, the good news is that fewer North Carolina teenagers became pregnant in 1996 than in 1995. It was the sixth year in a row that the teen pregnancy rate has fallen in North Carolina, and that is good news. The bad news is although the teen pregnancy rate has fallen, and that rate continues to fall, it has been rising in many countries including the United States. And in 1996, the teen pregnancy rate for North Carolina girls between the ages of 15 and 19 was 10th highest in the country, 89.8 out of 1,000. That is indeed the bad news. I am here today for our young people, because they care and they need to have an opportunity. They want a job, they want a career, they want a chance. They want to be both positive and productive in their future. Our young people want an education, a career and a chance, a chance for the future to make a difference, not only in their lives, but in their communities' and in their families' lives.”