TEEN PREGNANCY: PRESS THE MESSAGE

Teen pregnancy and abortion rates have hit a 20-year low, according to statistics released last week by the government.

We'd like to think it was due to a growing acceptance for sexual abstinence. Perhaps the messages about the importance of delaying sexual activity is finally sinking in.

Or it may be just the realization that sexually transmitted diseases aren't limited to other people. More effective contraceptives and their growing use by teens no doubt also have had an effect.

But the reduction is tempered by the numbers, which are still too high. For every 1,000 females between the ages of 15 and 19 in the U.S., 101 will get pregnant. This country's teen-age pregnancy rate still remains one of the highest of all industrialized countries.

Even better news is the fact the abortion rate has fallen rather dramatically, from 40.6 per thousand teen-age girls in 1990 to 30 per thousand girls in 1995.

But, sadly, many of these young girls who do choose to raise their babies are doing it alone. This puts a great burden on these single mothers, the children and the system. Family, churches and the government must continue to press the message that both moms and dads have a moral and financial responsibility to remain in the picture.