4 ms·

Roughly half of pregnancies in the US are unplanned, and with abortion and contraceptive access being removed or severely limited in many states, that situation

Roughly half of pregnancies in the US are unplanned, and with abortion and contraceptive access being removed or severely limited in many states, that situation is only going to get worse.

lotsofpulp 4y ago
The only US source for data I could find was from 2011: https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/contraception/unintendedpregnancy/index.htm https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/contraception/uninten... > In 2008, women reported that more than half of all pregnancies (51%) were unintended. By 2011, the percentage of unintended pregnancies declined to 45%. That is an improvement, but some groups still tend to have higher rates of unintended pregnancy. For example, 75% of pregnancies were unintended among teens aged 15 to 19 years. I imagine this has continued to trend downwards since 2011, especially amongst women who had the option of remote work (more educated, more lucrative careers, higher degree of financial freedom, less religious, etc).
- alocasia-1 4y ago
  I doubt that downward trend has continued (bet it's at least slowed) for the general population, I can't imagine sex ed has gotten any better nationwide. But I don't have any newer sources at hand either.
  - lotsofpulp 4y ago
    The Affordable Care Act providing free birth control did not even kick in until 2011. Between that, increased access to healthcare and doctors in general due to ACA, and access to more information due to proliferation of internet and smartphones, I would guess more women opted into birth control over the past decade.
- smeej 4y ago
  This depends a lot on the phrasing of the question, because there can be a big difference between "unplanned" and "undesired." When people actively want not to have children, they tend to be fastidious about using their contraceptives as intended, but they're less careful when they are less opposed to the idea. Even if someone gets pregnant earlier than they had actually "planned," many are quickly delighted after the first bout of surprise and the slight stress of moving up the related plans, though this is not always captured in surveys.
  - bombcar 4y ago
    Yeah, the questions have to be carefully designed to avoid questioner's bias, and to get at the root of what you're trying to determine. There's a vast range from "we cannot have children at all" to "we are intentionally doing every single thing possible to conceive" and many people end up in the "eh if it happens it happens" middle somewhere.
    - lotsofpulp 4y ago
      Yes, but my point was that the set of 25 year old couples who ended up working from home and having sex more often because of it probably will not end up with a baby because they will not have forgone birth control. Or a couple who has already had their desired amount of kids would not end up with more kids even though they are having more sex due to them using birth control. Whereas a 30 to 35 year old couple who was already planning on babies in the next couple years would have opted out of birth control to take advantage of the increased time being spent at home.
      - smeej 4y ago
        Every birth control method has a failure rate, even for perfect use, never mind for average use. If all else stays the same but the amount of sex goes up, the number of babies will also go up. Are the 25yo couples who are having more sex making other changes to decrease likelihood of pregnancy? Realistically? Probably not. They probably use their birth control the same way they always have, since it previously worked fine for the amount of sex they were having before. They don't necessarily think, "Oh, I'm increasing the odds that I'll get hit by the failure rate," especially if the way they've been using it has been "successful" for years.
        lotsofpulp 4y ago
        Is it possible the failure rates get so low with modern birth control that it is almost impossible to offset with increased amount of sex? Specifically, IUDs. https://americanpregnancy.org/unplanned-pregnancy/birth-control-pills-patches-and-devices/birth-control-failure/ https://americanpregnancy.org/unplanned-pregnancy/birth-cont... Even the pill is listed at 9%, which is low, and of course, abortion is the last resort to completely prevent a birth. For couples who are finished having children, a vasectomy also basically has a 0% failure rate.
yucky 4y ago
>contraceptive access being removed or severely limited in many states Not being combative but as someone who isn't up to snuff on this subject can you provide some examples? I haven't seen examples of this so I'd like to read more.
- alocasia-1 4y ago
  Sure, In 2020 there was a SCOTUS decision allowing employers to refuse insurance coverage for contraception for their employees for "religious or moral" reasons, aka "we don't like it". https://www.npr.org/2020/07/08/889112788/the-supreme-court-allows-employers-to-opt-out-of-contraception-coverage https://www.npr.org/2020/07/08/889112788/the-supreme-court-a... At least twelve states have laws allowing institutions and healthcare professionals to simply refuse to provide contraception if they want. https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/refusing-provide-health-services https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/refusing-pro... Meanwhile, the push to classify some methods (morning-after pill & IUDs), which may prevent fertilized eggs from implanting, as "abortifacients" and therefore subject to the abortion bans now active in many states, has been going on for years but is picking up steam. Missouri's abortion ban in particular, now active, defines pregnancy as a fertilized egg, implanted or not.
  - yucky 4y ago
    So those aren't examples of contraceptive access being removed, they're examples of the Supreme Court ruling that government can not force private insurers to cover specific things if they don't want. It seems like the solution to that would be to pick a different insurance plan (Obamacare marketplace has no plans that restrict contraceptive coverage) or go through one of the hundreds of organizations like Planned Parenthood. Since any employee is free to pick an Obamacare plan by law, does that not ensure contraceptive coverage is always available?

Roughly half of pregnancies in the US are unplanned, and with abortion and contraceptive access being removed or severely limited in many states, that situation is only going to get worse.

lotsofpulp 4y ago

The only US source for data I could find was from 2011: https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/contraception/unintendedpregnancy/index.htm https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/contraception/uninten... > In 2008, women reported that more than half of all pregnancies (51%) were unintended. By 2011, the percentage of unintended pregnancies declined to 45%. That is an improvement, but some groups still tend to have higher rates of unintended pregnancy. For example, 75% of pregnancies were unintended among teens aged 15 to 19 years. I imagine this has continued to trend downwards since 2011, especially amongst women who had the option of remote work (more educated, more lucrative careers, higher degree of financial freedom, less religious, etc).

alocasia-1 4y ago
I doubt that downward trend has continued (bet it's at least slowed) for the general population, I can't imagine sex ed has gotten any better nationwide. But I don't have any newer sources at hand either.
- lotsofpulp 4y ago
  The Affordable Care Act providing free birth control did not even kick in until 2011. Between that, increased access to healthcare and doctors in general due to ACA, and access to more information due to proliferation of internet and smartphones, I would guess more women opted into birth control over the past decade.
smeej 4y ago
This depends a lot on the phrasing of the question, because there can be a big difference between "unplanned" and "undesired." When people actively want not to have children, they tend to be fastidious about using their contraceptives as intended, but they're less careful when they are less opposed to the idea. Even if someone gets pregnant earlier than they had actually "planned," many are quickly delighted after the first bout of surprise and the slight stress of moving up the related plans, though this is not always captured in surveys.
- bombcar 4y ago
  Yeah, the questions have to be carefully designed to avoid questioner's bias, and to get at the root of what you're trying to determine. There's a vast range from "we cannot have children at all" to "we are intentionally doing every single thing possible to conceive" and many people end up in the "eh if it happens it happens" middle somewhere.
  - lotsofpulp 4y ago
    Yes, but my point was that the set of 25 year old couples who ended up working from home and having sex more often because of it probably will not end up with a baby because they will not have forgone birth control. Or a couple who has already had their desired amount of kids would not end up with more kids even though they are having more sex due to them using birth control. Whereas a 30 to 35 year old couple who was already planning on babies in the next couple years would have opted out of birth control to take advantage of the increased time being spent at home.
    - smeej 4y ago
      Every birth control method has a failure rate, even for perfect use, never mind for average use. If all else stays the same but the amount of sex goes up, the number of babies will also go up. Are the 25yo couples who are having more sex making other changes to decrease likelihood of pregnancy? Realistically? Probably not. They probably use their birth control the same way they always have, since it previously worked fine for the amount of sex they were having before. They don't necessarily think, "Oh, I'm increasing the odds that I'll get hit by the failure rate," especially if the way they've been using it has been "successful" for years.
      - lotsofpulp 4y ago
        Is it possible the failure rates get so low with modern birth control that it is almost impossible to offset with increased amount of sex? Specifically, IUDs. https://americanpregnancy.org/unplanned-pregnancy/birth-control-pills-patches-and-devices/birth-control-failure/ https://americanpregnancy.org/unplanned-pregnancy/birth-cont... Even the pill is listed at 9%, which is low, and of course, abortion is the last resort to completely prevent a birth. For couples who are finished having children, a vasectomy also basically has a 0% failure rate.

yucky 4y ago

>contraceptive access being removed or severely limited in many states Not being combative but as someone who isn't up to snuff on this subject can you provide some examples? I haven't seen examples of this so I'd like to read more.

alocasia-1 4y ago
Sure, In 2020 there was a SCOTUS decision allowing employers to refuse insurance coverage for contraception for their employees for "religious or moral" reasons, aka "we don't like it". https://www.npr.org/2020/07/08/889112788/the-supreme-court-allows-employers-to-opt-out-of-contraception-coverage https://www.npr.org/2020/07/08/889112788/the-supreme-court-a... At least twelve states have laws allowing institutions and healthcare professionals to simply refuse to provide contraception if they want. https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/refusing-provide-health-services https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/refusing-pro... Meanwhile, the push to classify some methods (morning-after pill & IUDs), which may prevent fertilized eggs from implanting, as "abortifacients" and therefore subject to the abortion bans now active in many states, has been going on for years but is picking up steam. Missouri's abortion ban in particular, now active, defines pregnancy as a fertilized egg, implanted or not.
- yucky 4y ago
  So those aren't examples of contraceptive access being removed, they're examples of the Supreme Court ruling that government can not force private insurers to cover specific things if they don't want. It seems like the solution to that would be to pick a different insurance plan (Obamacare marketplace has no plans that restrict contraceptive coverage) or go through one of the hundreds of organizations like Planned Parenthood. Since any employee is free to pick an Obamacare plan by law, does that not ensure contraceptive coverage is always available?