Washington Times Opinion Piece Discusses Emergency Contraception

At the same time as health experts and advocates marked the annual Back Up Your Birth Control Campaign Day of Action on Wednesday - dedicated to increasing awareness about emergency contraception - some also are calling for a greater focus on pregnancy prevention methods other than EC, Washington Times columnist and reporter Cheryl Wetzstein writes. In an article in the March issue of Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, EC expert James Trussell and two colleagues acknowledged that research shows that EC has not reduced pregnancy or abortion rates and wrote, "A constructive response to this disappointment [about EC] requires that we identify new directions and approaches."

The Times reports that when EC first became available in the U.S. about 10 years ago, some health experts had high hopes for the contraceptive's potential to reduce unintended pregnancies, about half of which end in abortion.

Samantha Levine, spokesperson for the National Institute for Reproductive Health, said that women might not have accurate information about the availably of EC. "Some women still don't know that it's available behind the counter at your pharmacy, for women 17 and older," Levine said, adding, "The thing that's important about emergency contraception is that it's there as a backup method."

Trussell and colleagues suggested that easier access to long term methods such as the levonorgestrel intrauterine system Mirena or the implantable method Implanon could reduce unintended pregnancy. Simple changes in practice such as allowing women to obtain intrauterine devices when they request them, rather than wait for during a subsequent visit to a health care provider, could increase use.

The researchers also called for exploration into situations in which women are at risk for unintended pregnancies. They noted that postpartum women typically do not resume birth control for six weeks, even though some studies suggest they might be able to use contraceptives sooner. Studies also should examine how often obese women experience "pill failure," Trussell and his colleagues said (Wetzstein, Washington Times, 3/25).


Reprinted with kind permission from nationalpartnership. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.


© 2010 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.

View drug information on Mirena.