Birth Control Method
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| The Pill |
4,735,000
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| Diaphragm |
746.000
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| Condom |
1,108,000
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| Withdrawal |
463,000
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| Spermicides |
161,000
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| IUD |
282,000
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| NFP |
242,000
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Currently, 44% of sexually active teens use the Pill, 38% use condoms, 10% use Depo-Provera (injectable), 4% use withdrawal, and 3% use Norplant (implant).
Among sexually active teenage girls aged 12 to 18, 20% of oral contraceptive users became pregnant over a mere six months.
The Pill: Health risks include abnormal blood clotting and heart attacks, cancer, and gallbladder disease. Side effects include headaches, acne, weight gain, vaginal infections, and depression.
Mini-pill: Health risks and side effects include ectopic pregnancy, ovarian cysts, weight gain, and menstrual cycle disturbances.
Norplant: Expensive, costing $500-700 for insertion. Common side effects include headaches, acne, weight gain, nausea, nervousness, hair loss, mood swings, ovarian cysts, scarring upon removal.
Depo-Provera: Increasing amenorrhea, headaches, dizziness, weight gain, loss in bone density, allergy, depression, and ovarian cysts. (And possibly cervical cancer, breast cancer, hemorrhaging, fetal defect.)
IUD: Health risks include pelvic-inflammatory disease, permanent infertility, ectopic pregnancy, septic abortion, and even death.
Condoms & Spermicides: Irritation, allergy, urinary tract infection.
Condoms & Safe Sex
In preventing pregnancy, condoms have a standardized failure rate of 15.7 percent over the course of a year.
For persons under the age of 18, condoms were found to fail 18.4 percent of the time after one year of use.
Among sexually active teenage girls aged 12 to 18, 30% contracted an STD over a six month period, including condom users.
For unmarried minorities, the condom failure rate is 36.3 percent, and for unmarried Hispanics, the failure rate is as high as 44.5 percent.
Among married couples where one partner was HIV-positive, 17 percent of the uninfected spouses contracted the disease, despite the use of condoms. That is a rate greater than one in six. Statistically speaking, the uninfected partners would have been better off playing Russian Roulette.
Only 7 percent of HIV positive persons voluntarily notify their sexual partners.
Probablities in Perspective: Example using a method with a 15% annual failure rate
Failure rate after 1 year's time: 15% - one in 7 have gotten pregnant
Failure rate after 2 year's time: 28% - one in 4 have gotten pregnant
Failure rate after 3 year's time: 39% - one in 3 have gotten pregnant
Failure rate after 4 year's time: 48% - half have gotten pregnant
Teen Pregnancy
43% of all unintended pregnancies occurred while using contraception
20% of young women who become sexually active become pregnant within the first month of sexual activity. 50% become pregnant within the first six months.
85% of teen pregnancies are unintended
Although some teens marry, the vast majority of men take off when the girlfriend has a baby.
75% of teens 15-19 are unmarried by the time their pregnancies are resolved.
In 1989, 67% of births occured to unmarried teens.
Health Considerations
Although many teen pregnancies result in poor health for both mother and baby, good nutrition and prenatal care results in better pregnancy outcomes than those of older women.
Problems occur when teens try to hide their pregnancies.
In several much-publicized cases, hidden pregnancies by teens have resulted in infanticide.
Abortion
One in four women (26%) obtaining abortions are teens.
41% of teens who become pregnant have abortions.
61% of teens have abortions without their parents' knowledge or consent.
Reasons: 3/4 say they cannot afford to have a baby, 2/3 say they are not mature enough; 1/4 have never used birth control.
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| Postponing sexual activity until marriage; husband and wife remain mutually faithful |
Having more than one sexual partner; no long-term commitment to monogamy |
| No risk of STD's | 1 in 4 get STD's |
| Health | Risk of AIDS, PID, cervical cancer |
| Supportive partner while pregnant | Alone while pregnant |
| Children have two parent family | Single parenthood |
| Retain self-respect; respected by others | Disrespected by opposite sex |
| Fond memories of past relationships | Painful memories of past relationships |
| Clean conscience | Guilt, shame, and secrecy |
| Enjoy adolescence | Forced to grow up too soon |
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