Greater EC Access Has Not Reduced Unintended Pregnancies, Abortion Rates In United Kingdom, Some Experts Say

Greater access to emergency contraception has not reduced the rate of unintended pregnancies in the United Kingdom, some family planning experts said on Thursday, London's Metro reports (Metro, 9/15). The U.K. government approved nonprescription sales of EC in January 2001 (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 11/1/05). Official statistics show that nonprescription purchases of EC in the country increased from 27% of all sales of the drug in fiscal year 2003-2004 to 50% in fiscal year 2004-2005. According to Reuters U.K., despite increasing use of EC, the U.K.'s abortion rate has increased from 11 abortions per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44 in 1984 to 17.8 abortions per 1,000 women of the same age in 2004 (Zweynert, Reuters U.K., 9/15). EC is a "useful method for individual women, but as a public health measure it is not going to make a big difference [in] abortion rates," Anna Glasier, director of the Lothian Primary Care NHS Trust in Edinburgh, Scotland, writes in an opinion piece published in the Sept. 16 edition of the journal BMJ (BBC News, 9/15). She added, "The problem is many women do not realize they have put themselves at risk of pregnancy. They may assume that it just won't happen to them, so even if they have [EC] at home they don't use it." Peter Kearney, spokesperson for the Catholic Church in Scotland, said, "By making it quick and easy to get [EC], it is like saying it is all right to be sexually promiscuous. We need a value-based approach to this problem rather than a biological, medical approach (Moss, Scotsman, 9/15). "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," a Department of Health spokesperson said, adding, "We are working hard to reduce the demand for abortions and have invested [about $75 million] to improve access to contraceptive services nationwide" (Hope, Daily Mail, 9/15).

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