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Easy availability of emergency contraception does not have a notable impact on rates of pregnancy and abortion, based on an editorial in this week’s BMJ.
The usefulness of emergency contraception is questioned by Professor Anna Glasier, director of loved ones preparing and nicely woman services of Lothian Main Care NHS Trust, Edinburgh, who says it does aid some girls some of the time, who don’t desire to get pregnant.
Use of this type of contraception has increased within the UK in current years and whereas 1% of girls requesting an abortion in 1984 stated they had utilised it to try and stop the pregnancy, 6% of ladies had accomplished so in 1996 and 12% in 2002.
Emergency contraception has been heralded as the resolution to rising abortion rates, says Professor Glasier, but in the UK, abortion rates have increased from 11 per 1,000 females aged 15-44 in 1984 (136,388 abortions) to 17.8 per 1,000 females in 2004 (185,400 abortions) despite the increased use of emergency contraception.
Ten different studies carried out in diverse countries showed that giving ladies a supply of emergency contraception to maintain at home elevated its use by twofold or threefold, but had no measurable impact on rates of pregnancy or abortion.
Most girls who did not use their supply, stated they did not realise they had put themselves at risk of pregnancy.
Professor Glasier writes: “If you will be looking for an intervention that can lessen abortion rates, emergency contraception might not be the solution and perhaps you ought to concentrate most on encouraging men and women to make use of contraception ahead of or in the course of sex, not soon after it.”
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Contact: Emma Dickinson
BMJ-British Medical Journal