Fascinating correlation between teen pregnancy and religion

davesdatahut: The latest data on religion and teen pregnancy in the US shows a fascinating correlation: The more religious the state, generally the higher its teen pregnancy rate.
Here are the most religious states, from Gallup polls, and their teen pregnancy rates and their national rank, from the Centers for Disease Control. The numbers got pushed together, but it's readable. Each column has a space in between the numbers:
Percent very religious Annual births per 1,000 teens National rank
Mississippi - 61% 48.2 2
Utah - 60% 23.2 40
Alabama - 57% 39.9 9
Louisiana - 56% 44.1 6
South Carolina - 54% 37.9 12
Tennessee - 54% 39.7 10
Georgia - 52% 36.0 13
Arkansas - 51% 48.2 1
North Carolina - 50% 33.4 21
Oklahoma - 49% 47.6 4
and the states with the lowest severely-religious percentages:
Vermont - 22% 16.6 47
New Hampshire - 24% 13.8 50
Maine - 27% 20.1 44
Massachusetts - 28% 14.8 49
Oregon - 31% 24.8 34
Nevada - 32% 34.8 17
Washington - 32% 24.4 36
Connecticut - 32% 15. 8 48
Hawaii - 32% 29.1 23

Cause and effect? Or just coincidence? I'm guessing the former.

orkanen: I suggest you also look up repeat teen pregnancies, those numbers too are quite interesting, or so I've heard.

CoIin: The results are surely not coincidental, but I suggest we should be wary of drawing the conclusion that one is the cause and the other the effect. It's quite possible that both are the effects of a common cause.

lori100: The rates are the highest in the southern states where the education level is the lowest, also....

davesdatahut: Education usually ties right in: low education, low income, high religion, high teen pregnancy. And then these states vote utterly against their own interests. Remarkable.