Seventeen teenage girls in one Massachusetts high school are pregnant at the same time, apparently the result of making a "pregnancy pact" and wanting to raise their babies together. The situation has prompted speculation about whether it’s an effect of Jamie Lynn Spears’ teen pregnancy, or the result of the town’s economic problems or simply a symptom of a society too lax about sexual responsibility. Spears, the sister of troubled pop star Britney Spears and star of Nickelodeon’s "Zoey 101," revealed in December that she was pregnant. According to a Massachusetts state report, the town of Gloucester reported 19 teens birth in all of 2006. In December, the Richmond health department launched a prevention initiative targeting teens and their parents. Girls who get pregnant as teens don’t often understand the broader consequences, said Bob Ruthazer, a family life educator with First Things First of Greater Richmond, a group promoting healthy families. read more

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