Family planning experts say that the lack of priority given by the government to teenage pregnancies is behind the alarmingly high rate of teenage pregnancies in the Dominican Republic. At a press conference called by ProFamilia, a local organization that promotes family planning, Carmen Barroso, director for the western hemisphere for the International Family Planning Federation stated that official figures show that 22.1% of teenage girls between the ages of 15-19 have been pregnant at least once. Barroso pointed out that despite advances in human development, teenage pregnancies are on the rise.
She called for changes in political will in order to prioritize the issue. She called for an increase in sexual education of students.
She also said that the lack of priority is due to the resistance imposed by religions on recognizing the importance of sexual and reproductive rights and their teaching in schools. She says that religious representatives believe that sexual education would encourage indiscriminate sexual practices among young people, encouraging them to become sexually active at an early age.
She said that education was needed on the scientific aspects of sexual education. “It is shocking that into the 21st century we still have religious interference in states that are pluralistic,” she commented during the press conference held yesterday, Thursday 24 July 2014.
ProFamilia director Magaly Caram said that the state should not continue defining public policies based on religion, but should focus instead on statistical evidence.
She commented that the Catholic Church hierarchy rejects integrated education in sexuality, the use of modern contraceptive methods, and abortion for health reasons or rape. She called for separation between church and state.