Consider the Following:

• In any single year, 85 of 100 sexually active women of reproductive age not using a contraceptive method become pregnant. In contrast, of 100 oral contraceptive users, only between 0.1 and 5 percent become pregnant during the first year of use (Trussell et al., 1998).



• Because the likelihood of pregnancy is so great when contraception is not used, 53 percent of all unintended pregnancies in the U.S. occur among the 10 percent of fertile women who use no method and leave pregnancy to chance (Harlap et al., 1991).



• Reducing unintended pregnancy is key to reducing the number of abortions - more than half of unintended pregnancies end in abortion (Henshaw, 1998).



• Reflecting the widespread occurrence of unintended pregnancy, abortions are obtained by women in all income categories. In 1992, for example, less than one-fourth of all abortions were obtained by teenagers.




Cited References:

Harlap, Susan, et al. (1991). Preventing Pregnancy, Protecting Health: A New Look at Birth Control Choices in the United States. New York: The Alan Guttmacher Institute.

Henshaw, Stanley K. (1998). "Unintended Pregnancy in the United States." Family Planning Perspectives, 30 (January/February), 24-29.

Trussell, James, et al. (1998). Contraceptive Technology, 17th ed. New York: Ardent Media.

Institute of Medicine, The Best Intentions: Unintended Pregnancy and the Well-Being of children and Families, 1995.

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