Emergency Contraception Linked to Decline in Abortion Rate, AGI Report Finds
[Dec 17, 2002]
Emergency contraception prevented 51,000 abortions in 2000, and the increased use of emergency contraception could be responsible for up to 43% of the 11% decline in abortion rates between 1994 and 2000, according to a new report published in the Alan Guttmacher Institute's "Perspectives of Reproductive Health" November/December issue, USA Today reports (Rubin, USA Today, 12/17). The report, "Contraceptive Use Among U.S. Women Having Abortions in 2000-2001," is an analysis of the institute's third national survey of more than 10,000 women obtaining abortions (AGI release, 12/17). AGI researchers administered a questionnaire to 10,683 women receiving abortion services in 2000-2001 asking what contraceptive method, if any, they had last used before becoming pregnant, the length of time they used that contraceptive method, and when they stopped use of that method. Researchers found that 54% of the women obtaining abortions in 2000-2001 used contraception during the month they became pregnant, while 46% did not use contraception that month, including 8% who reported never using contraception. Among those not using contraception, more than 30% indicated that they avoided contraception because of the perceived low risk of pregnancy. In addition, approximately 1.3% of women obtaining abortion services indicated that they had used emergency contraception to prevent pregnancy; 35% of them had not used birth control during the month they became pregnant and 65% of them took EC as a "backup to contraception." The researchers estimated that three pregnancies are prevented for every one pregnancy that occurs after the usage of EC ("Contraceptive Use Among U.S. Women Having Abortions in 2000-2001," Alan Guttmacher Institute, 12/17).
More Women Need EC Information
Dr. Jacqueline Darroch, AGI senior vice president and an author of the study, said, "Our findings indicate that women and their partners continue to need better information and resources to help them use contraceptive methods consistently and correctly," adding, "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" (AGI release, 12/17). Rachel Jones, AGI researcher and co-author of the study, added that the study analysis suggests that "if more women knew about and used emergency contraception, this could further reduce unintended pregnancies and abortion in the coming years." James Trussell, an economics professor and emergency contraception specialist with the Office of Population Research at Princeton University, said the survey results are "exciting," adding that the study demonstrated the connection between EC and abortion decline for the "first time … using real data" (Wetzstein, Washington Times, 12/17). Vanessa Cullins of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America said the study is "a call to action to spread the word about emergency contraception." According to other EC advocates, the fact that EC is available only with a doctor's prescription in most states is the primary obstacle to increased EC use. Only Washington, California and Alaska currently allow pharmacists to prescribe EC (USA Today, 12/17)
Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, search the archives, and sign up for E-mail delivery at www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/repro. The Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of the Kaiser Family Foundation, by The Advisory Board Company. © 2003 by The Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
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