It’s not surprising. The inequity for African Americans, Hispanics (and the thousand other ethnicities that populate American inner-cities) is an ongoing issue. Years of under-investment, under-development. People are not given the correct education about their own reproductive systems. Mix that with a strong dose of fundamentalist Christianity (100 million Americans believe that the entire Universe began 6000 years ago) and you get an environment where this sort of statistic and sociological phenomena occurs.

I read an article in New Scientist magazine a little while ago which demonstrated a sociological concurrence between teenage pregnancies and the harshness of a particular (social) environment. It is something that is noticeable in many other species as well. When resources are limited, competition is greater and it behooves a fertile female to have a child as soon as she possible can because she may not be able to later and she has to attempt to capitalise on what resources may be available at the time.
This is not, obviously, something that people necessarily consciously participate in - it’s a part of the way human beings are ”wired” such that the survival of the our own species is paramount and in tough times, it makes evolutionary sense to have children as soon as possible, when a mother is most fertile and resilient and the resources to nurture a child are subject to greater competition.

It shows what most people have always known: if you tell a kid he can't do something, that's exactly what he's going to do! Abstinence Only is the most naive policy ever in the history of man.

What bothers me is the fact that European teen pregnancy is far lower than America's. I know they teach sex ed but we must do a horrible job here. It should not be that big of a divide.