Free Birth Control Drastically Lowers Abortion Rates
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According to a study published in Obstetrics & Gynecology, providing free birth control to women leads to severely reduced rates of unintended pregnancy.
You see, as it turns out, when ladies are offered their choice of birth control at no cost and with no co-pay, they tend to choose more effective methods of birth control such as implants and the IUD. Crazy, right? It’s almost as if women don’t actually like getting abortions or having to grapple with an unintended pregnancy!
In short, girls aged 15 to 19 who were given access to the birth control method of their choice had an annual birth rate of 6.3 out of 1000. The U.S. national average is 34.3 out of 1000. And it naturally follows that with fewer unwanted pregnancies, there would be fewer abortions (unless doctors are giving abortions to women who aren’t even pregnant, eh Todd Akin?). Researchers noted the abortion rate among the participants in the study, and found it to be between 62 and 78 percent lower than the national average.
“The impact of providing no-cost birth control was far greater than we expected in terms of unintended pregnancies,” explained Jeff Peipert, MD, PhD, and lead author of the study. “We think improving access to birth control, particularly IUDs and implants, coupled with education on the most effective methods has the potential to significantly decrease the number of unintended pregnancies and abortions in this country.”
It has always been interesting (like, sad-interesting) to me that anti-choicers are often the ones trying to restrict access to birth control. Maybe having the facts laid out in front of them in the form of this study will cause them to change their minds about the role of birth control in preventing abortions!
