TEXAS TEEN PREGNANCY - According to a new study released today, teenagers in foster care in Texas are FIVE times more likely to become pregnant than other teens in the state. Kate Murphy with the group Texans Care for Children, the group that conducted the study. Murphy says her research found state lawmakers have a lot of work to do to prevent pregnancy among teens in foster care. Murphy says caseworkers could also be better about telling foster teens – who are all on Medicaid – that they have access to birth control. AND they don’t need parental consent to get it.
Another thing Murphy says she found is that not all of these teen girls are getting pregnant by accident. "A lot of them feel unloved – girls and boys – a lot of them feel unloved. And they want a family. And they don’t have loving supportive relationships." Murphy explained "And this is a way for them to build a family that they feel like they are missing – or a way to try to get that love in their life that they are craving".
Texas has one of the highest overall teen pregnancy rates in the country — the state ranked 47th in preventing teen pregnancies in 2016.
