Thursday, September 14, 2006

Blind leading the Blind


Apart from any moral and ethical reasons, can you find some missing cases of logic. They all sound like politicians to me


Making emergency contraception more available has failed to reduce abortion rates, a family planning expert says.

The government said the emergency pill was not targeted at cutting abortions. (So what was it for?)

However, Professor Glasier, who is director of family planning at the Lothian Primary Care NHS Trust, disagreed, saying emergency contraception had been heralded as the solution to rising abortion rates by many experts.

....

About 6% of women use it each year, although the numbers buying it from chemists has almost doubled in the last year.

In the US, authors have claimed that 43% of the reported drop in abortions between 1994 and 2000 was down to emergency contraception, and that around 51,000 pregnancies were prevented by it in 2000/01.

But Professor Glasier, who was an advocate of emergency contraception in the 1990s, said: "Despite the clear increase in the use of emergency contraception, abortion rates have not fallen in the UK."

Contraception

In 1984, 11 women per 1,000 aged 15 to 44 had abortions, compared with 17.8 in 2004.

She said research had shown that women did not always use the contraception at the right moments because they were unaware they had put themselves at risk and as a result it had no impact on pregnancy or abortion rates.

She also questioned whether it was as clinically effective as it was claimed to be.

Professor Glasier added: "If you are looking for an intervention that will reduce abortion rates, emergency contraception may not be the solution, and perhaps you should concentrate most on encouraging people to use contraception before or during sex, not after it."

But Val Buxton, acting chief executive of Brook, a sexual health charity for young people, said: "Easy access to emergency contraception is an essential part of the picture, and abortion rates might be higher if it weren't for the fact that emergency contraception is more easily available than in the past."

Toni Belfield, of the fpa, formerly the Family Planning Association, said: "Emergency contraception is no substitute for correct, regular use of contraception. It is not, and was never intended to be, a panacea for abortion."

And a spokeswoman for the Department of Health said emergency contraception had never been heralded as the answer to rising abortion rates in the UK.

"Our policy has always been that safe sex, using reliable contraception on a regular basis, is the best way for women to protect against unwanted pregnancy."

Now the Question naturally should come to mind on this one question. Why. Has the culture communicated not merely by the morning after pill that one can "play" with no real consequences. Obviously this is true. The problem is there are consequences. Why did they not mention Abstinence as the only proven option? Is it because its there work and there social agenda?

I would say makes one wonder, but it doesn't actually.

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