LOS ANGELES – Doctors should give underage teenagers prescriptions for emergency contraceptives such as Plan B before they start having sex instead of waiting until a young patient’s “plan A” goes awry, the American Academy of Pediatrics says in a new policy statement. It says doctors should also counsel teens on the options for emergency birth control as part of an overall strategy to reduce teen pregnancy.

The academy is issuing the new position paper, published online Monday by the journal Pediatrics, as physicians and other health experts struggle to reduce the nation’s high birthrate among adolescents.

Teen pregnancies in the U.S. have declined over the last 20 years, but the incidence is still the highest in the developed world, according to data released this year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.