Reproduction - Contraceptive Use

The desire to control female reproduction is nothing new. History shows us that women have taken substances in an attempt to prevent pregnancy for centuries. Happily, women no longer have to risk their health with such things as drinking mercury or gunpowder as they have in the distant past. Some would argue that new contraceptive medications may also cause their users harm, but for the most part none would argue that the modern contraceptives are as harmful as drinking mercury.

In the middle of the 20th century advances were made in the synthetic manufacture of the hormone progesterone, a female hormone that controls ovulation and thus the ability to become pregnant. In 1960 the United States Food and Drug Administration approved the first oral contraceptive for sale. It is estimated that within ten years "the pill" became the most popular nonsurgical form of contraceptive used by American women.

The graph presents information about the types of birth control methods used by woman between 15 and 44 years of age in 1982 and in 1995. These are two of the years for which data were collected in a special survey by the National Center for Health Statistics. The graph also shows the percentage of women who are not using birth control methods because they are pregnant, have just had a child, are attempting to conceive a child, or fall into the category "other nonusers." The other nonusers are women who have never had intercourse or are currently abstaining from sexual relations.

The percentages presented add to more than 100% for both years. This is because respondents may have answered with more than one type of contraceptive method used. For example, a woman may use an intrauterine device (IUD) and also use condoms to protect against sexually transmitted disease. Or, she may use a diaphragm as well as one of the "other nonsurgical methods" like spermicidal foam.

The most popular single form of birth control, in both 1982 and 1995, was surgical sterilization. As a group, the nonsurgical methods are most popular but include a large variety of single methods. The pill is the most popular of these. Between 1982 and 1995 there was a 95% increase in the number of women using condoms as one means of birth control. This is most likely the result of the dual protection offered by the use of a condom, protection against pregnancy and against sexually transmitted disease.

The percentage of women who were not currently using a contraceptive because they were not sexually active dropped by 17% between 1982 and 1995, from 26.9% to 22.3%. The IUD and diaphragm have also declined in usage over the period shown.

Family planning has become a much easier activity in the late 20th century with the rise in availability of contraceptive methods. But, when these fail and/or are not used properly another action is available, abortion. That is what we will turn to in our next panel.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States 1990, "Contraceptive Use by Women, 15—44 Years Old, by Age, Race, Marital Status, and Method of Contraception: 1982," p. 70, and Statistical Abstract of the United States 2001, "Contraceptive Use by Women, 15-44 Years of Age: 1995," p. 69.