TULSA, Okla. — A Tulsa-based non-profit believes Oklahoma is on a better track than before with youth sexual health.
Amplify Youth Health Collective, or simply Amplify Tulsa, is one of several Oklahoma groups targeting the state’s high teen birth rate.
Through 2007, at least one in ten teenage girls in the Sooner state experienced pregnancy, but that has since dropped significantly.
New data from CDC points to a 12% decline in teen births from 2021 to 2022, good enough to drop Oklahoma from fourth-highest in the country for teen births to fifth-highest.
While the one-rank drop seems small, Amplify Tulsa Executive Director Heather Duvall argues it’s part of a bigger picture.
“With more education, more access to this kind of (sexual health) information, young people feel more confident,” Duvall told 2 News.
“Unplanned pregnancy is only one component of overall sexual health. And so we need to make sure we’re reducing STI rates, that people have information about consent and boundaries, and healthy relationships.”
Since starting with three members in 2013 the group now has 16 employees and a youth leadership council.
Duvall said the state's and Tulsa County's improving numbers are no fluke.
“More and more, we’re seeing partners reach out to us, schools reach out to us, all to make sure their students are getting this critical information,” she said.
Recent Edison High School graduate Gabriella Ross serves on the Amplify Tulsa Youth Leadership Council. She said the evidence-based outreach Duvall talks about helped pave a life path for her and her friends.
“I do like how Amplify has really promoted birth control, how to build healthy relationships and focusing on your education before you settle down and have children," Ross said. "I do hope that other states follow suit because we’re not the only ones who have a high teen birth rate.”
“You can see the data is very clear that sexual health education (and) access to services works,” Duvall added.
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