More teens are now buying the morning-after pill, according to new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
CDC's Wednesday report revealed that more than one in every five sexually active teenage girls is buying the over-the-counter pill, which only suggests that teens have ready access to the "emergency contraceptive," as reported in USA Today.
For the past decade, teen purchases of the morning-after pill have increased steadily, according to the CDC report.
The report is based on a survey of about 2,000 individuals from 15 to 19 years of age, from 2011 to 2013.
Almost all of the teenage girls who participated in the survey said that they have used condoms at a certain point, and around half of them said they've been given prescriptions for contraceptive pills.
According to Bill Albert, chief program officer for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, the rise in the use of morning-after pill in teenage girls following the easy accessibility to the drug signifies that teens are not so good with contraception, just like adults.
In a separate report from CDC, it was found that pregnancy rates among teens dropped low in 2013.
The agency cannot state the exact reasons why there is such decline, but it noted that teens appear less likely to engage in sex and wait for the right time, and seem to be taking birth control more often compared to past generations.
According to the Daily Beast, teens hold off on sex for different reasons and one of them is due to morals or religious beliefs.
Albert also said that teens are just doing alright as there is progress in all 50 states in the U.S. across varying ethnic and racial groups.
Albert added that sex education is to be given credit for the progress, as it includes advice on abstinence and contraception.
While progress may have been observed, Albert insists that there is still a lot of work to be done.
The take-home message is that even challenging social issues such as teen sex and pregnancy can have progress, and teens should also be given credit, Albert said.
