Artificial Contraception is Associated With Increased Numbers of Induced Abortions

Since the sexual revolution, it has been a widely accepted fact that contraceptives have been a necessity for our society. They seem to be the best way to prevent unwanted pregnancies that would otherwise result from sexual unions between two people unprepared for the commitment of raising any or additional children. It almost goes without saying that the more effective and available contraceptives become, the less likely women who wish to avoid pregnancy will become pregnant and the fewer induced abortions they will seek. In reality, the information available concerning abortions and the women who obtain them points to a different conclusion. The more effective and available contraceptives become in a society, the 348 Linacre Quarterly more widespread the practice of induced abortions becomes. On the other hand, natural family planning has been associated with fewer induced abortions when an unplanned pregnancy results. This paper will present a sample of the information available, attempt to draw conclusions, and discuss the possible reasons that contraceptives are unavoidably linked to increasing numbers of induced abortions and that, conversely, natural family planning is associated with very few or no induced abortions. Mechanisms and Efficacies of Family Planning Methods Initially, the mechanisms and efficacies of six methods of artificial family planning will be presented. These include two hormonal methods (oral contraceptive pills and Depo-Provera), the intrauterine device, two barrier methods (the latex condom and the diaphragm), and sterilization (tubal ligation and vasectomy). Subsequently, the mechanisms and efficacies of two methods of natural family planning will be discussed. These include the Ovulation Method and the Sympto-Thermal Method. Oral contraceptive pills, the most widely used hormonal form of contraception in the United States, are available as a combination of synthetic estrogen and progestogen or as progestogen alone. The primary mechanism of the combined pill is to inhibit ovulation by suppressing gonadotropins. When this suppression fails and ovulation does occur, secondary mechanisms, such as altering cervical mucus to make it impenetrable to sperm and altering the endometrial lining to make implantation unlikely after fertilization, become important.' The progestogen-only pill, or mini pill, works not primarily by suppressing ovulation, but by altering cervical mucus and the endometrium.' In a comprehensive literature review, James Trussell et al. found perfect use failure rates, or method failure fates, (percent of women experiencing an unintended pregnancy in the first year of perfectly consistent and correct use) for the combined pill to be 0.1 percent. In the same review, they found typical use failure rates, or user failure rates (percent of women experiencing an accidental pregnancy in the first year of use, including inconsistent and incorrect use) for the combined pill to be 3 percent. The perfect use and typical use failure rates for the progestogen-only pill were found to be 0.5 and 3 percent, respectively.2.7 Jones and Forrest found that contraceptive failure rates were underestimated and made corrections based on underreported abortions. They compared abortion statistics published by the Alan Guttmacher Institute to the numbers of abortions reported to the Centers for Disease Control. Since the Alan Guttmacher Institute identified many more abortions than the CDC, they determined that the actual number of abortions performed in the United States was vastly