Teen pregnancy at lowest level in nearly 40 years

Teen pregnancies have declined dramatically in the United States, as have the births and abortions that result. In 2008, the teen pregnancy rate stood at 67.8 pregnancies per 1,000 women aged 15–19, which was the lowest rate ever recorded, and 42% below the peak of 116.9 per 1,000 in 1990...more

Are you IN THE KNOW?

The Guttmacher Institute is pleased to launch Are you IN THE KNOW?, a new set of resources designed to inform a broad range of audiences about contraception, pregnancy, abortion and teen health in a simple, compelling and fun format. The Institute has long worked to increase public awareness about sexual and reproductive health issues and counter misinformation with sound scientific evidence. Are you IN THE KNOW? builds on those efforts by covering topics such as the frequency of premarital sex in America, the incidence of abortion in the United States and globally, and the many positive effects of comprehensive sexuality education, in an accessible way...more

HHS decision on contraception as preventive care resists pressure for overly-broad religious exemption

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) on January 20 announced that it was finalizing a rule under which a range of women’s preventive health services—including contraceptive counseling, services and supplies—will be covered by private insurance plans without out-of-pocket costs to patients. Significantly, DHHS resisted pressure for an overly broad religious exemption to the contraceptive coverage requirement…more

See also “The Religious Exemption to Mandated Insurance Coverage of Contraception” by Guttmacher expert Adam Sonfield in Virtual Mentor, the bioethics journal published by the American Medical Association…more

Guttmacher’s paper on religion and contraceptive use, which found that 99% of all sexually experienced U.S. women of reproductive age—including 98% of Catholic women—have ever used a method of contraception other than natural family planning can be found here.

New study finds long-term worldwide decline in abortions
has stalled

After a period of substantial decline, the global abortion rate has stalled, according to new research from the Guttmacher Institute and the World Health Organization. Between 1995 and 2003, the number of abortions per 1,000 women of childbearing age (15–44 years) worldwide dropped from 35 to 29; the new study found that in 2008 the global abortion rate was 28 per 1,000, virtually unchanged since 2003. This plateau coincides with a United Nations–documented slowdown in contraceptive uptake, which has been especially marked in developing countries …click here for more in English, French, and Spanish.

States enact record number of abortion restrictions in 2011

By almost any measure, 2011 saw unprecedented attention to issues related to reproductive health and rights at the state level. In all 50 states, legislators introduced more than 1,100 reproductive health and rights-related provisions, a sharp increase from the 950 introduced in 2010. By year’s end, 135 of these provisions had been enacted in 36 states; fully 68% of these new provisions—92 in 24 states—restrict access to abortion services…more.

In India, condoms are rarely used during premarital sex

Ocean/CorbisOnly 7% of young women and 27% of young men who report having had premarital sexual relationships say they ever used condoms in those relationships, according to a new study by K.G. Santhya, Rajib Acharya and Shireen J. Jejeebhoy of the Population Council, New Delhi, in the December issue of International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health. The authors suggest that communication and education programs aimed at promoting condom use among youth are needed, along with adaptations to the service delivery structure that would enable youth to obtain condoms easily and confidentially …more

State Medicaid family planning expansions improve women’s health while saving money

A new report that pulls together the body of evidence from evaluations of state programs that have expanded Medicaid eligibility for family planning finds that the benefits they provide are broad and far-reaching. These programs have proven both effective and cost-effective, while simultaneously pioneering innovations in outreach and enrollment that hold important lessons for the implementation of health care reform…more

Burkinabe women experience high rates of unintended pregnancy

Kathy Jesencky/ PhotoshareA new study finds that high rates of unintended pregnancy in Burkina Faso are taking a toll on women, their families and the national health care system. According to the new report, roughly one-third of all pregnancies in Burkina Faso are unintended, which contributes to the country’s high rates of maternal mortality and ill-health. Approximately 3,600 women die every year from maternal causes and nearly 25% of those women had not intended to be pregnant. The report, "Benefits of Meeting Women’s Contraceptive Needs in Burkina Faso," released today by the Guttmacher Institute and the Institut de Recherches en Sciences de la Santé, finds that 64% of women in Burkina Faso who want to avoid pregnancy have an unmet need for modern contraception. Furthermore, a greater investment in family planning would dramatically reduce the number of unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions and maternal deaths in the country, as well as provide significant cost savings to the health care system…more in English and French.

Making the case for increased support for publicly funded family planning

Recent efforts at the state and federal levels to cut funding for family planning services are shortsighted at best. Whether driven by fiscal constraints or ideology, cutting publicly funded family planning services runs counter to the national goal of reducing unintended pregnancy. A new editorial by Guttmacher experts Rachel Benson Gold and Adam Sonfield in the journal Contraception argues that expanding access to family planning services provides an opportunity for states to improve women’s health and well-being while simultaneously shoring up the financial sustainability of the Medicaid program, on which 4 in 10 poor women of reproductive age rely...more

Deep cuts to U.S. international family planning assistance would have devastating impact

Pascal Deloche/Godong/CorbisThe USAID family planning and reproductive health program has unique attributes that make it especially effective at empowering women in developing countries to better time and space their pregnancies...more

Thousands of women in poor countries would die from pregnancy-related complications if funding for U.S. international family planning and reproductive health assistance were cut significantly. Our fact sheet details the negative impact of every $10 million decrease in the program...more

Claim that most abortion clinics are located in black neighborhoods is false

A new Guttmacher analysis debunks the claim by antiabortion activists that most abortion clinics are located in predominantly black neighborhoods. In fact, fewer than one in 10 abortion clinics are located in neighborhoods where at least half of the population is African-American...more