Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month

WHEREAS, Grow Our Own Youth serves as the central source for information, materials and network for pregnancy prevention, reduction of at risk behaviors, promotion of youth development and public awareness of the social, emotional and physical and economic issues that surround teen pregnancy; and

WHEREAS, in 2013, 7, 560 Alabama teens became pregnant, ranking the state of Alabama 14^th amongst the United States, with a teen pregnancy rate of 73 in girls aged 15 through 19; and

WHEREAS, the children of teen mothers are more likely to be born premature, have low birth weight and experience a higher rate of infant mortality; and

WHEREAS, reducing teen pregnancies is an effective way to reduce poverty, improve out-of-wedlock births, workforce readiness, sexually transmitted diseases and education attainment:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Robert Bentley, Governor of the State of Alabama, do hereby proclaim May 2015, as

Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month

in the state of the Alabama.