Somewhere along the way U.S. teens have become terribly misinformed about how to prevent pregnancy. BECOMING a parent should be a glorious — and optional — occasion. We can help make it be a decision, not an accident, by pushing the use of longer acting birth control measures.
According to a recent survey, almost half of U.S. girls figure pregnancy is unavoidable, and agreed to the statement, “It doesn’t matter whether you use birth control or not; when it is your time to get pregnant it will happen,” as published in this week’s edition of The Economist.
They are wrong, of course, but only because they are ignorant about the best means of birth control.
The most effective means to prevent pregnancy are intra-uterine devices, IUDs, and hormonal implants, tiny rods inserted under the skin.
Both last for years and provide much better protection — 98 percent — against pregnancy. Even so, only about 7 percent of U.S. females use these for contraception, instead relying on birth control pills or condoms, which have success rates of 91 percent and 82 percent, respectively. And while the pill and condoms are relatively effective, the catch, of course, is that they be used according to directions. Remove the chance for human error, and a product’s success rate skyrockets. But we’re talking about sex here, which in seconds can turn a clear head cloudy. The better option is to not have to think about it.
Other parts of the world — most notably, Scandanavia, Europe, Canada and Great Britain — have significantly lower rates of teenage pregnancies compared to the United States due to widespread use of the long-acting birth control methods.
One reason more U.S. women do not avail themselves of these birth control measures is because their physicians don’t promote them as the first line in defense against pregnancy. For whatever reason, not all health insurance plans cover birth control expenses, making it a money-loser for private practice physicians.
The good news is that the Affordable Care Act covers all birth control measures 100 percent, and, hopefully, will put peer pressure on private companies to act accordingly.
Perhaps another reason birth control pills are the preferred method — especially by teens — is because they can be obtained with relative ease while the long-acting devices must be administered by a health care professional.
— Susan Lynn
Best family planning is the one you don’t have to think about
