National Notes
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Teen birth rates decline. Teen birth rates declined 16 percent from 1991 to 1997 in the United States, according to figures released April 29 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The percentage of girls ages 15-19 giving birth fell 4 percent in 1997, the sixth year in a row that teen births have declined and the lowest rate since 1973. Researchers cited several factors that may have contributed to the drop, including abstinence programs, increased use of contraception and fear of AIDS.
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__ Court to decide nude dancing case. For the second time this decade, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide to what degree indecency laws can be used to bar nude dancing. The high court announced May 16 that it will review a ruling by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court striking down an Erie, Pa., statute that made it illegal to appear in public in a "state of nudity." The operator of an establishment that features exotic dancing by women challenged the Erie statute in a lawsuit. A trial court invalidated the statute, saying it was too broad.
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_ Pastor doesn't have to testify on confession. A Tacoma, Wash., pastor cannot be forced to testify about a murder confession because doing so would violate the sanctity of the confessional, the Washington state Supreme Court has ruled. The high court unanimously dismissed a lower court's contempt charge against Rich Hamlin, minister of the 75-member Evangelical Reformed Church in South Tacoma. The May 6 ruling declared Hamlin was protected by a state law guaranteeing confidentiality of religious confessions.
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Wal-Mart won't sell morning-after pill. Wal-Mart, the nation's fifth-largest retailer of pharmaceuticals, has announced it will not sell a controversial "morning-after" contraceptive pill. If used within 72 hours after intercourse, Preven stops ovulation and keeps fertilized eggs from becoming implanted in the uterus, according to its maker, Gynetics Inc. Many anti-abortion groups have classified the drug's effects as a do-it-yourself abortion.
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