There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.
The universal TANSTAAFL principle.
Anti-Life Philosophy.
It is apparent that nothing short of contraceptives can put an end
to the horrors of abortion and infanticide.
Margaret Sanger.[1]
We pro-choice people do agree with the anti-choicers on one point:
There are entirely too many abortions in the United States. The answer
to this problem is as simple as it is obvious.
What our society needs in order to eliminate or drastically reduce
abortions and unwanted pregnancies is universal and easy access to a
wide variety of cheap and safe birth control methods.
Introduction.
Just as there ain't no free lunch, there ain't no such thing as a
'perfect' birth control method, except for three specialized instances:
Total abstinence, homosexuality, and castration (not
sterilization).
Even abortion and sterilization don't always work! Every method of
birth control has its advantages and its costs.
This chapter describes the rates of contraception usage and the
effectiveness of each method for American women, and shows how heavy
reliance on contraception has led to more, not less
unwanted pregnancies and abortions.
Definitions.
The Importance of Terminology.
The terminology associated with contraception effectiveness/failure
rates can be confusing. The misuse of these terms may lead to neglect on
the part of the user and abuses by providers. In order to discuss
contraceptive effectiveness intelligently, four important effectiveness
rates must be defined, as shown below.
Method Effectiveness Rate — the rate at which a
contraceptive method would prevent pregnancy if used as directed (i.e.,
perfectly).
Actual Effectiveness Rate — also known as the "user
effectiveness rate," this parameter takes into account user errors
and therefore is the "real world" indication of how effective
a contraceptive method really is. The actual effectiveness rate is always
equal to or lower than the method effectiveness rate.
Dr. Christopher Tietze of Planned Parenthood defines the user
effectiveness rate as the method's "Performance under real life
conditions, including any accidental pregnancies during regular or
irregular use of the method under study by excluding pregnancies
following discontinuation of contraception or adoption of another
method."[2]
Some methods, such as sterilization and the IUD, preclude user error,
and so their method and actual effectiveness rates are identical. Other
methods, such as 'traditional' rhythm and withdrawal, are fundamentally
inefficient and flawed methods of contraception. Even if the user
follows directions perfectly, the method is still relatively
ineffective. Therefore, the differences between their method and actual
effectiveness rates cannot be accurately measured, and are assumed to be
equal.
Contraceptive Failure Rate — the percentage of women who become
pregnant while using one method of contraception exclusively for one
year and engaging in 100 acts of normal sexual intercourse. This
definition includes both method failure (such as physical condom
breakage during normal use) and failure of the user to employ the method
properly.
Contraceptive Effectiveness Rate — the percentage of women who do not
become pregnant while using one method of contraception for one year.
The contraceptive failure rate and effectiveness rate are add up to one.
Example: if condoms have a failure rate of 10.8% annually, they have an
effectiveness rate of (100.0% - 10.8%), or 89.2% annually.
"Contraceptive effectiveness rate" and "actual
effectiveness rate" are equivalent terms.
Contraceptive Failures by
the Million.
The success of the national family planning program is stunning ...
because of increased and more consistent use of contraception, the
pregnancy rate among sexually-active teenagers has been declining.
Faye Wattleton, former President of the
Planned Parenthood Federation of America.[3]
The Ultimate Bill of Goods.
American women have been hoodwinked into thinking that modern
contraceptive drugs and devices are virtually foolproof. This myth is
perpetrated by Planned Parenthood, the Sex Information and Education
Council of the United States (SIECUS), health clinics at every level,
abortion clinics, school-based clinics and sex educators, and by lazy
doctors who shove birth control pills at women, telling them that they
are the easiest way to go.
So it is a profound shock to about two million women every
year when they become pregnant despite contraceptive use. Women
who become pregnant while using contraceptives tend to equate the unborn
child with a "contraceptive failure," and the general impulse
(in no way discouraged by the pill pushers) is to rectify the failure by
taking advantage of that great social eraser abortion.
This is why the pro-abortion movement wants to get every woman on
contraception for its own self-perpetuation.
The contraception-abortion cycle is as predictable as it is
inevitable;
THE 'VICIOUS CYCLE' OF CONTRACEPTION
MORE CONTRACEPTION
\
/
MORE OVERCONFIDENT SEX
\
/
MORE CONTRACEPTIVE FAILURES
\
/
MORE ABORTIONS
(repeat cycle endlessly until
common sense finally prevails).
Contraception Failure Rates.
Despite a general impression that all American women are on the Pill,
only about one-third of fertile women in the United States use any
kind of contraception, as shown below. Figure 99-1 summarizes this use
in more detail.
SUMMARY OF CONTRACEPTIVE USE BY UNITED STATES WOMEN IN 1990
Naturally or artificially
sterile
women:
14,715,000 (27.2%)
Fertile but not sexually
active:
10,549,000 (19.5%)
Sexually active, contra-
ception
nonusers:
8,981,000 (16.6%)
Sexually active, contra-
ception
users:
19,854,000 (36.7%)
Total women of child-
bearing age in
1990:
54,099,000 (100.0%)
Reference: United States Department of
Commerce, Bureau of the Census. Reference Book and Guide to Sources, Statistical
Abstract of the United States. 1990 (110th Edition). Table 99,
"Contraceptive Use By Women, 15-44 Years Old, By Age, Race, Marital
Status, and Method of Contraception: 1982."
FIGURE 99-1
CONTRACEPTIVE USE BY WOMEN OF CHILDBEARING AGE IN THE UNITED STATES
[A medium text size on your computer's 'view'
setting is recommended, otherwise, the tables may be discombobulated.]
Age of
Women
Total,
Marital Status
15-24 25-34
35-44
15-44
Formerly
Years Years
Years Years
Single Married Married
Thousands of Women
20,150 19,644
14,305 54,099
19,164
28,231 6,704
(1) STERILE
3.5% 27.9%
60.1% 27.2%
3.2%
40.9% 38.0%
(2) FERTILE, NOT SEXUALLY ACTIVE
39.1%
7.8% 7.8%
19.5%
49.6%
0.2% 15.1%
(3) FERTILE CONTRACEPTIVE USERS
The "Pill" 23.5%
17.1% 2.3%
15.6% 18.7%
13.4% 15.8%
IUD
1.4%
6.5%
4.2%
4.0%
1.9%
4.8% 6.4%
Diaphragm 3.7%
6.8%
2.4%
4.5%
4.7%
4.5% 3.7%
Condom
5.5%
7.6%
7.0%
6.7%
4.1%
9.8% 0.8%
Foam
0.8%
1.5%
1.8%
1.3%
0.4%
2.0% 1.1%
NFP
1.2%
2.8%
2.6%
2.2%
0.9%
3.2% 1.4%
Other
2.3%
2.9%
2.2%
2.5%
2.6%
2.3% 2.7%
TOTALS 38.4% 45.2%
22.6% 36.7%
33.3% 40.1% 31.8%
(4) FERTILE CONTRACEPTIVE NONUSERS
Pregnant, Postpartum, or Seeking Pregnancy
9.8% 12.7%
3.5%
9.2%
3.7%
13.9% 4.7%
Sexually Active
9.2%
6.5%
6.0%
7.4%
10.1%
4.8% 10.4%
TOTALS
100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 1 00.0%
100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Reference: Bureau of the Census, United
States Department of Commerce. National Data Book and Guide to Sources, Statistical
Abstract of the United States, 1990 (110th Edition). Table 99,
"Contraceptive Use By Women, 15-44 Years Old, By Age, Race, Marital
Status, and Method of Contraception: 1982."
Figures 99-2 and 99-3 respectively show the actual ('real world')
effectiveness rates of contraceptives in tabular and graphical form.
These rates have been confirmed several times by Alan Guttmacher
Institute (AGI) studies. The AGI is the research arm of the Planned
Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), and therefore the results of
its statistics should be immune from attack by pro-aborts, since they
come from a pro-abortion source.
FIGURE 99-2
CONTRACEPTION METHODS AND EFFECTIVENESS RATES
Overall
Method (User)
Failure
Failure
Probability of Pregnancy in;
Contraceptive Rate
Rate 2 Years 3
Years 5 Years 10 Years
For Fertile Women Aged 15 to 44 Years
Sterilization
1.3%
1.3%
3%
4%
6% 12%
The
Pill
1.8%
5.0%
10%
14%
23% 40%
IUD
5.4%
5.4%
11%
15%
24% 43%
NFP (STM)
2.0%
5.5%
11%
15%
24% 43%
'Female Condom' 2.8%
9.2%
18%
25%
38% 62%
Condoms
4.5% 10.8%
20%
29%
44% 68%
Withdrawal
15.4% 15.4%
28%
39%
57% 81%
Spermicides
10.0% 19.4%
35%
48%
66% 88%
'Rhythm'
23.0% 23.0%
41%
54%
73% 93%
Diaphragm
14.0% 23.3%
41%
55%
74% 93%
No Method
44.7%
44.7%
69%
83%
95% 100%
For Fertile Women Aged 15 to 24 Years
Sterilization
1.7%
1.7%
3%
5%
8% 16%
NFP (STM)
2.7%
7.5%
14%
21%
32% 54%
IUD
10.5% 10.5%
20%
28%
42% 67%
The
Pill
3.8% 11.0%
21%
30%
44% 69%
Condoms
4.5%
18.4%
33%
46%
64% 87%
Withdrawal
21.1% 21.1%
38%
51%
61% 91%
Diaphragm
19.0%
31.6%
53%
68%
85% 98%
'Rhythm'
33.9% 33.9%
56%
71%
87% 99%
Spermicides
18.0%
34.0%
56%
71%
87% 99%
No Method
62.9%
62.9%
86%
95%
100% 100%
Reference: William R. Grady, Mark D.
Hayward, and Junichi Yagi. "Contraceptive Failure in the United
States: Estimates for the 1982 National Survey of Family Growth."
Alan Guttmacher Institute's Family Planning Perspectives,
September/October 1986, page 204.
FIGURE 99-3
COMPARISON OF ACTUAL ('REAL WORLD') ANNUAL CONTRACEPTIVE EFFECTIVENESS
Annual Effectiveness
Method
in Percent
Sterilization
98.7%
Low Dosage
Pill
95.0%
Intrauterine
Device
94.6%
Natural Family Planning 94.5%
Female
Condom
90.8%
Condom
89.2%
Withdrawal
84.6%
Spermicides
80.6%
Rhythm
77.0%
Reference: William R. Grady, Mark D.
Hayward, and Junichi Yagi. "Contraceptive Failure in the United
States: Estimates for the 1982 National Survey of Family Growth."
Alan Guttmacher Institute's Family Planning Perspectives, Alan
Guttmacher Institute, September/October 1986, page 204.
These figures are startling. It must be stressed that contraceptive
methods for younger women (particularly teenagers) are disastrously
ineffective. In fact, all methods are less effective for
teenagers from both the method effectiveness standpoint (due to, among
other things, rapid changes in the menstrual cycle) and the user
effectiveness standpoint (due to much less careful use).
Experienced researchers have compared reducing the teen pregnancy
rate by making contraceptives freely available to chasing the pot of
gold at the end of the rainbow.
The Report of the House Select Committee on Children, Youth and
Families concluded that reducing the teen pregnancy rate in this
manner is not only morally impossible, it is statistically
impossible; "The contraceptive failure rate for teens who always
use contraceptives is about 10% (Zelnik and Kantner, 1976 and 1979).
Therefore, hypothetically, if sexual activity among teens reached 100%
and the constant use of contraceptives 100%, we would still have a
pregnancy rate of about 10%."[4]
This conclusion was buttressed by none other than the Alan Guttmacher
Institute, which is the nation's foremost research institution regarding
sexual practices.
In 1987, the AGI performed a survey of nearly 10,000 teenaged girls,
and found that the annual contraceptive user failure rates for teenagers
are as shown below.
ANNUAL CONTRACEPTIVE FAILURE RATE FOR TEENAGE GIRLS
Birth control pill . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . 11 percent
Condoms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 percent
Diaphragm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 percent
Spermicides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 percent
Other methods (i.e., withdrawal) . . . . .38 percent
Reference. Robert A. Hatcher. Contraceptive
Technology, 1986-1987 (13th Revised Edition). New York: Irvington
Publishers, 1986, page 139. Also see Kim Painter. "'Disturbing'
Data on Birth Control Failure." USA Today, July 13, 1989,
page 1D.
This means that, if a girl begins using contraception on her 15th
birthday, the probability of her unintentionally becoming pregnant by
the time she is 20 are as follows;
PROBABILITY OF A TEENAGE GIRL USING CONTRACEPTION GETTING PREGNANT
IN FIVE YEARS WITH:
Birth control pill . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . 44 percent
Condoms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 percent
Diaphragm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 percent
Spermicides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 percent
Other methods (i.e., withdrawal) . . . . .91 percent
Contraceptive failure is the primary reason we have a million
pregnancies among teenaged girls every year. Contraceptives are designed
to function in the body of a woman whose cycles have been stable for a
number of years; they are extremely ineffective in a girl whose cycles
have just begun and are still erratic or irregular.
And so, the endless cycle of fornication, life and death continues.
Planned Parenthood and the 'sexperts' tell our daughters that it is all
right to fornicate, as long as they use contraceptives provided by the
same people. And when these contraceptives fail, as they commonly do,
the girls are pressured to abort by the same experts. After all, who is
less equipped to raise a child than a teenaged girl who is still in high
school?
And then the 'sexperts' wonder why more contraceptives lead to more
abortions.
This is the linchpin of the practical pro-life argument against
teenagers fornicating and being put on contraception. Teenagers tend to
think that they are virtually invulnerable, and this attitude translates
into the idea that "It can't happen to me." Unfortunately, it
does teenagers suffer nearly a million unplanned pregnancies each year,
and many of these teens were using contraception!
Tragic Scenario.
These numbers are not surprising, in view of the typical scenario
involving a sexually active teenaged girl. This 'typical' girl (or boy,
for that matter) is influenced by four major factors;
(1) peer pressure;
(2) the totally amoral instruction given by all agencies in the
school system and supported by local governmental entities;
(3) easy access to contraceptives (usually paid for by taxpayers);
and
(4) a legal policy of total privacy and enforced parental
noninvolvement.
The girl visits her handy school-based clinic or local Planned
Parenthood office and is handed a packet of pills her ticket to free sex
with anyone she pleases. She is usually about 15 years old.
What the counselors don't tell her is that the Pill is not totally
effective when administered to a young girl whose body is still in the
midst of sexual maturation.
Figure 99-3 shows that the low-dose birth control pill has an
effectiveness rate of 89.0 percent for women aged 15 to 24. This sounds
pretty good until one realizes that the girl has an 11% chance of
getting pregnant in her first year of pill usage! This chance
increases with every passing year, as shown below;
PROBABILITY OF A TEENAGED GIRL USING THE BIRTH CONTROL PILL
GETTING PREGNANT WITHIN:
One year of pill use: . . . . . . . . . . 11
percent
Two years of pill use: . . . . . . . . . 21 percent
Three years of pill use: . . . . . . . . 30 percent
Five years of pill use: . . . . . . . . . .44 percent
Ten years of pill use: . . . . . . . . . .69 percent!
Reference: Alan Guttmacher Institute. Family
Planning Perspectives, September/October 1986, Table 5, and
January/February, 1984, pages 6 to 13.
In other words, a girl on the pill has better than a two-thirds
chance of getting pregnant between the time she gets on the Pill at age
15 and a couple of years past her college graduation. This statistic
is even backed up by the pro-abortionists. Planned Parenthood
biostatistician Dr. Christopher Tietze said that "Within 10 years,
20 to 50 percent of pill users and a substantial majority of users of
other methods may be expected to experience at least one repeat
abortion."[5]
Note that Tietze is speaking about repeat (second or later)
abortions here.
As shown above, Alan Guttmacher Institute studies conclude that a
fourteen-year-old girl faithfully using the pill has a 44% chance of
getting pregnant at least once before she finishes high school. She has
a 69% chance of getting pregnant at least once before she finishes
college. She also has a 30% chance of getting pregnant two or more
times.
If her 'partner(s)' use condoms, the likelihood of unwanted pregnancy
while she is in school rises to 87%.[6]
These are the young women that sidewalk counselors see in droves,
trooping into the abortion mills with bemused expressions on their faces
and saying "My birth control failed!"
Figure 99-4 combines the information given in Figures 99-2 and 99-3
to arrive at the total number of contraceptive failures in the United
States each year. More than a million women aged 15 to 24 have
contraceptive failures every year, and nearly a million women aged 25 to
44 have such failures. This amounts to a total of slightly more than two
million unintended pregnancies by contraception users every year in
this country.
FIGURE 99-4
ANNUAL CONTRACEPTIVE FAILURES IN THE UNITED STATES
Contraceptive Failures for Women Aged 15
to 24 Years
Annual
Contraceptive
Failure
Contraceptive
Method Total Users
[1] Rate
[2]
Failures
The
"Pill"
4,735,000
X
11.0%
= 521,000
Diaphragm
746,000
X
31.6%
= 236,000
Condom
1,108,000
X
18.4%
= 204,000
Withdrawal
463,000
X
21.1%
= 98,000
Spermicides
161,000
X
34.0%
= 55,000
IUD
282,000
X
10.5%
= 30,000
NFP
242,000
X
7.5%
= 18,000
TOTALS
7,737,000
X 15.0%
= 1,162,000
Contraceptive Failures for Women Aged 25
to 44 Years
Annual
Contraceptive
Failure
Contraceptive
Method Total Users
[1] Rate
[2]
Failures
Diaphragm
1,679,000
X
16.8%
= 282,000
Condom
2,494,000
X
6.8%
= 170,000
Withdrawal
884,000
X
12.8%
= 113,000
The
"Pill"
3,688,000
X
3.0%
= 111,000
IUD
1,878,000
X
3.8%
= 71,000
Spermicides
552,000
X
11.7%
= 65,000
NFP
922,000
X
3.5%
= 32,000
TOTALS
12,097,000
X
7.0%
= 844,000
TOTAL ANNUAL UNITED STATES CONTRACEPTIVE
FAILURES:
1,162,000 +
844,000
= 2,006,000
[1] From Figure 99-1.
[2] From Figure 99-2.
This is in line with Alan Guttmacher Institute figures that show that
half of all abortion patients in 1987 were practicing contraception
during the month in which they conceived, and a substantial proportion
of those who were not doing so had stopped using a method only a few
months before becoming pregnant.[7] The majority of abortion patients
who had stopped using a method prior to becoming pregnant said they had
most recently used the pill.[8]
References: Contraceptive Effectiveness.
[1] Margaret Sanger. Woman and the New Race, 1920. Bretano's,
Inc., sixth printing in 1923 by Eugenics Publishing Company, New York.
Page 25.
[2] Christopher Tietze and Stanley Lewit. "Statistical
Evaluation of Contraceptive Methods." Clinical Obstetrics and
Gynecology, 17:121-138 (1974).
[3] Faye Wattleton, former President of the Planned Parenthood
Federation of America, before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on
Labor, Health, and Human Services, and Education, March 16, 1981,
transcript page 2.
[4] Report of the House Select Committee on Children, Youth and
Families. "Teen Pregnancy: What is Being Done? A State-By-State
Look." Washington, D.C. U.S. Government Printing Office, December
1985, pages 378 and 385.
[5] Dr. Christopher Tietze, quoted in the National Abortion Rights
Action League's A Speaker's and Debater's Guidebook. June 1978,
page 24.
[6] Alan Guttmacher Institute. Family Planning Perspectives,
September/October 1986, Table 5, and January/February, 1984, pages 6 to
13.
[7] "Human Life International Scores Turner's Broadcasting of
Pro-Abortion Film." The Wanderer, August 10, 1989, page 9.
[8] "The Characteristics Of, and Prior Contraceptive Use of U.S.
Abortion Patients." Alan Guttmacher Institute, Family Planning
Perspectives, July/August 1988, page 158. As described in
"Pro-Abortion Forces Concede Contraceptive Failure." Life
in Oregon (newsletter of Oregon Right to Life), May 1989, page 6.
Further Reading: Contraceptive Effectiveness.
Information on the effectiveness of the newer methods of natural
family planning (not "rhythm") is available from the
Couple to Couple League
Post Office Box 111084
Cincinnati, Ohio 45211.
American Life League. "The Birth Control Game: Gambling with
Life."
Order from American Life League, Post Office Box 1350, Stafford,
Virginia 22554. How IUDs and the birth control pills work by killing new
human life.
Bernadell Technical Bulletin.
An excellent bibliography of more than 150 sources on the effects of
abortion and contraception (including abortifacient birth control pills
and IUDs) on fertility may be found in the November 1990 issue of the
Bernadell Technical Bulletin, pages 7 to 9. Order the Bulletin from
Post
Office Box 1897
New York, New York 10113-0950.
J.C. Espinoza, M.D. Birth Control: Why Are They Lying to Women?
Paperback. Order from:
Life Issues Bookshelf
Sun Life
Thaxton,
Virginia 24174
Telephone: (703) 586-4898
or from
Our Lady's Book Service
Nazareth Homestead, R.D. 1
Box 258
Constable, New York 12926
Telephone: 1-800-263-8160.
Reviewed by Eugene F. Diamond, M.D., on page
32 of the February 1983 ALL About Issues. The eugenicists, the
birth-control profitmakers, and the Neomalthusians have concocted an
effective and pervasive propaganda campaign against population. This
propaganda is filled with lies, half-truths, and distortions. Dr.
Espinoza's book exposes the health hazards of artificial contraception
and shows that safe and effective natural family planning is really the
only way to go from a practical standpoint. Also available in Spanish as
El Control De La Natalidad: Porque Les Mienten A Las Mujeres?
Ellen Grant, M.D. The Bitter Pill: How Safe Is the 'Perfect
Contraceptive?'
London: Elm Tree Books, 1985. 7.95 pounds, 184 pages.
Roy O. Greep, Marjorie A. Koblinsky, and Frederick S. Jaffe. Reproduction
and Human Welfare: A Review of the Reproductive Sciences and
Contraceptive Development.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press, 1976, 620 pages. The
Ford Foundation sponsored three pro-abortion authors in the writing of
this lengthy book, which covers a lot of ground: The uses and limits of
contraceptive technology, the reproductive system, new contraceptive
technologies, research and training of contraceptive providers, the
financing of contraceptives, and a description of the moral and
political climate in the United States. Appendixes include country and
population control agency funding data.
The Physicians Desk Reference
(PDR), updated annually, contains a comprehensive inventory of
virtually all drugs currently available in the United States, including
birth control pills. The PDR includes photographs of the pills and
detailed information on their chemical contents.
© American Life League BBS — 1-703-659-7111
This is a chapter of the Pro-Life Activist’s Encyclopedia published
by American Life League.
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