A recent report shows that teen birth rates in the United States are in decline. ''To be more specific: In 1991, there were 62.1 births for every 1,000 teens between the ages of 15 and 19. By 2001, that rate had dropped to 45.9. Even more remarkable: The teen birth rate in 2001 was the lowest it had been in over 60 years.''

While this is good news in general, there are still many teens becoming mothers before they are ready and thus reaping the consequences for themselves, their babies and society. In spite of this decline in teen births, the United States continues to have a higher teen birth rate than other industrialized nations. The U.S. rate was more than double that of the next closest nation—the United Kingdom. In the United States, states with the highest teen birth rates are all clustered in the South, with Mississippi leading the pack.

The report revealed that the vast majority of teen births in the United States occur outside of marriage and that the majority (66 percent) were to 18- to 19-year-olds. Almost one-third (32 percent) were to 15- to 17-year-olds. And, 2 percent were to teens under the age of 15. Sadly, "In 2001, there were nearly half a million U.S. teen births, about equal to the population of New Orleans." ("Little to Cheer in the Latest News About Teen Pregnancies," Dwight Lewis, The Tennessean, Dec. 8, 2002, ). YU