Rebecca Wind
http://www.guttmacher.org/~info
http://www.guttmacher.org/~mediaworks
EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE:
Tuesday, December 17, 2002, 12:01am, EST
EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION (EC) PLAYED
KEY ROLE IN
ABORTION RATE DECLINES
In 2000 Alone, AGI Estimates EC Averted As Many As
51,000 Abortions
A substantial proportion of the 11% decline in
abortion rates between 1994 and 2000 resulted from women's use of
emergency contraception (EC), according to a new analysis of
contraceptive use among more than 10,000 U.S. women having abortions
in 2000-2001. Forty-six percent of women surveyed were not using a
contraceptive method in the month in which they became pregnant,
whereas 54% were using a method. The analysis, conducted by The Alan
Guttmacher Institute (AGI), estimates that 51,000 abortions were
prevented by EC use in 2000--47,000 more than in 1994, when only
4,000 abortions were averted through EC. Overall, 110,000 fewer
abortions occurred in 2000 than in 1994; increased use of EC may
account for up to 43% of the total decline.
The study found that 46% of women having abortions
were not using a contraceptive method in the month they became
pregnant, including 8% who had never practiced contraception. Among
the many reasons that women gave for not using contraceptives, the
most common were that they did not think they would become pregnant
(33%), they had concerns about methods (32%), including side effects
and problems with methods in the past, and they did not expect to
have sex (26%). Other reasons why women were not using
contraceptives included the following:
• they had not thought about contraception or had
not yet begun using a method (22%);
• they had problems accessing
contraception (12%);
• they were ambivalent about pregnancy
(5%);
• they did not want their parents to know they were
sexually active (2%); and
• they were forced to have sex (1%).
More than half of women (54%) were using a
contraceptive method in the month they became pregnant, mainly
relying on condoms (28% of all women having abortions) and oral
contraceptive pills (14%). These women commonly reported that they
had become pregnant despite using a contraceptive because they had
used the method inconsistently (76% of pill users, 49% of condom
users). Furthermore, 42% of condom users indicated that the condom
had broken or slipped out of place.
These findings do not indicate that contraception is
effective only half the time. Women aged 15-44 who use the pill
correctly have only a 0.1%-0.5% chance of becoming pregnant in one
year. Couples who use condoms consistently and correctly have only a
3% chance of becoming pregnant in one year. Previous research
indicates that 7% of all women aged 15-44 do not use contraceptives;
these women account for about half of all abortions.
"Our findings indicate that women and their partners
continue to need better information and resources to help them use
contraceptive methods consistently and correctly," said Dr.
Jacqueline E. Darroch, AGI Senior Vice President and Vice President
for Science and an author of the study published in the
November/December issue of Perspectives on Sexual and
Reproductive Health. "EC is a particularly promising solution,
especially for those women who have had sex without a contraceptive
because they did not expect to have sex, or for those who realize
that they used their method incorrectly."
In a related article in The Guttmacher Report on
Public Policy, AGI senior policy analyst Heather Boonstra
discusses some of the logistic and political barriers to women's
effective use of EC to reduce the occurrence of unintended pregnancy
and abortion. Advocates are focusing on several ways to make EC more
accessible, such as encouraging hospitals to offer EC to women who
have been sexually assaulted, motivating physicians to offer advance
prescriptions and telephone prescriptions to their patients, making
EC available directly from pharmacists and making EC available over
the counter.
"Contraceptive
Use Among U.S. Women Having Abortions in 2000-2001" by Rachel K.
Jones, Jacqueline E. Darroch and Stanley K. Henshaw of AGI,
published in the November/December 2002 issue of Perspectives on
Sexual and Reproductive Health, is an analysis of AGI's third
national survey of over 10,000 women obtaining abortions. The survey
is part of a larger research effort aimed at understanding
contraceptive failure rates among women experiencing an abortion or
unplanned birth, and at providing accurate estimates of
contraceptive effectiveness and use by various subgroups, supported
by the National Institutes of Health.
"Emergency
Contraception: Steps Being Taken to Improve Access," by Heather
Boonstra, is published in the December issue of The Guttmacher
Report on Public Policy.
Information on numbers of abortions, abortion
providers and barriers to abortion in the United States will be
available in the January/February 2003 issue of Perspectives on
Sexual and Reproductive Health.
Also in the November/December 2002 issue of
Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health:
• "Chronically
Homeless Women's Perceived Deterrents to Contraception," by
Lillian Gelberg et al;
• "Marriage Among Unwed Mothers:
Whites, Blacks and Hispanics Compared," by Deborah Roempke
Graefe and Daniel T. Lichter;
• Research Note: "Sexual Intercourse and the Age
Difference Between Adolescent Females and Their Romantic
Partners," by Christine E. Kaestle et al; and
• Special
Report: "Current Contraceptive
Research," by Jill L. Schwartz and Henry L. Gabelnick.
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