Women's Toughest Choices

Editor's note: This is the second in a four-part series by Kylee Dalmata about the choices faced by women who find themselves pregnant before they are ready for the challenges of motherhood.

A nation faces a problem

By Kylee Dalmata
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

The test showed positive; it was a life-altering discovery for the West Texas College freshman. Pregnant at 18, Layla Carter's entire outlook changed, because she was faced with a situation she had assumed would never happen to her.

"I was in a state of shock," she said. "We only had sex about once a week, and he pulled out each time." The couple had never thought that they needed anything more advanced for protection.

Layla's story, from the WebMed.org website, is just among the 1,011,920 cases of women under the age of 20 who unintentionally become pregnant in 1986, and while the rates have fallen since then, to 882,290 in 1999, and continue to fall, the United States still maintains the highest rate of unwanted pregnancies in the world.

The WebMed site blames inadequate knowledge of possible protection and the risks associated with being sexually active, as well as protection failure, poor family planning programs, alcohol, and in some cases even coercion as major contributing factors to the nation's high rates. College students, particularly freshman women, are at the greatest risk for unwanted pregnancy. According to the U.S. News and World Report, "six of ten pregnancies are unplanned, but among college students the rate is much higher."

According to one study, in the majority of college cases, one if not both of the partners were intoxicated during the intercourse that resulted in an unwanted pregnancy. The Austin Peay State University web zine, Capsule, claims that, "67% of unwanted pregnancies to college females are a result of unprotected sex while under the influence."

Other sites warn that the men have as much, if not more, reason to be concerned with preventing unwanted pregnancies. As some sites point out, women will often make the decision to have a child without consulting their partner.

According to a paper written for the American Sociological Association, "1,320,000, or 33% of the four million births that occur each year were not intended by the male."

"Countries with lower pregnancy rates attribute their lower rates to mandatory, medically accurate, sexuality education program," according to www.plannedparenthood.com. "The programs provide comprehensive information, and encourage responsible decisions."

Many young Americans do not get that same educational background. "I figured the chances of getting pregnant were pretty low," Carter said.

Progress is being made in reducing numbers at home, and part of that is because it has become increasingly easier to find out about and get protection, according to webmed. Websites like Planned Parenthood, WebMed, Mayo Clinic, and many universities' websites help to transmit the information on a nationwide level.

Planned Parenthood claims that the organization's many local sites, fifteen in Vermont alone, and their availability and pricing, help encourage anyone who may need help to seek out information and support.

Planned Parenthood also actively advertises their mission and recourses to the public. The Norwich infirmary posts seven different fliers, according to infirmary personnel. Commercials on television and radio are used on a regular basis to attract attention to their offered options.

Awareness of the need for protection from STDs is also increasing, and because these methods often help prevent impregnation, many are benefiting from the double protection, according to WebMed.

Although there is no product on the market to give 100% protection, there are now many more options, most of which can be used in a combination to lower risks, according to www.bu.edu.

Condoms, one of the most common forms of protection, are only 85% reliable. The percentage goes up with the aids of spermicidal foams, films, and suppositories, according to www.bu.edu. Sponges, diaphragms, and even injectable drugs such as Depro-provera can also help.

Birth control pills have proven to be the most reliable form of contraceptive, according to www.bu.edu. This is because, unlike manual means of control, the pill is taken internally, and prevents the release of the egg. If there is no egg, there cannot be a pregnancy, according to www.bu.edu.

The pills are 99.9% effective, but not completely guaranteed. Missing days, and even taking the pill at different times each day can render it ineffective, according to an Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical publication.

Of course, there is also the 'morning after pill', which prevents an embryo from implanting on the uterus wall. Such pills are widely advertised and widely criticized. The Mayo clinic recently published an article that explained the benefits of this pill, and debates raged.

Newspapers like the Cornell Daily criticized the pill's popularity when word of its effectiveness found its way to graffiti on bathroom stalls, according to a column by Cornell reporter Matt Flahive.

What remains, however, is that unwanted pregnancies continue to be a problem nationwide.

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