Zócalo Public Square

California’s rate of births to teenage mothers has hit a historic low. For years, rates were on the decline around the country, throughout the sex-obsessed 1990s — when parents rallied around the V-chip, fretted about Internet obscenity, and shielded impressionable eyes from strutting pop starlets. Credit went to many factors, from increased access to contraceptives and improved sex education to teens simply waiting longer to have sex. But in recent years, as the pregnancies of political daughters and TV stars have brought broad attention to the subject once more, teen pregnancy rates have started rising everywhere except California, which has pursued robust state-supported teen pregnancy prevention efforts. What changed around the country, and what is California doing right? Zócalo invited a panel including moderator Emily Bazar, sociologist Mark Regnerus, author of the forthcoming Premarital Sex in America, Connie Kruzan, director of Adolescent Services at North Hollywood's Valley Community Clinic, and Fran