| | Why do so many teens get pregnant if they use condom?I was impressed to read an article by Jennifer Roback Morse on contraceptive failure. She cited two studies that showed that of all women using the pill for one year, somewhere around 8% will experience a pregnancy. Between 14% and 15% of women who use the condom will become pregnant within a year. But these statistics, while technically correct, don’t tell the whole story, not by a long shot. These are the “overall” statistics - these studies break down the population into age groups, income levels, marital status and race. A poor cohabiting teenager using the pill has a failure rate of 48.4%. Over 70% of poor, cohabiting teenagers using condoms, will be pregnant within a year. By contrast, the middle-aged, middle-class married woman has a 6% chance of pregnancy after a year of condom use. This information helps us to tell it like it really is in our Abstinence Education Programs. Check out the source: “Contraceptive Failure Rates: New Estimates From the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth,” Haisahn Fu, Jacqueline E. Darroch, Taylor Haas, and Nalini Ranjit, Family Planning Perspectives, Vol 31, No. 2. March/April 1999, pp. 56-63. Let's sharpen our vision and keep getting the message out. Evelyn |
