Los Angeles Times Examines Unintended Pregnancy Among Low-Income Women

The Los Angeles Times on Monday examined unintended pregnancy among low-income women in the U.S. According to a report released earlier this month by the Guttmacher Institute, a disparity exists between low-income and affluent women in their ability to control their fertility. The report finds that while unintended pregnancy and abortion rates have decreased among teenagers, college graduates and women in the middle or upper class, the rate has increased almost 30% among low-income women, the Times reports. Researchers found that low-income women are four times as likely to have an unintended pregnancy and three times as likely to undergo an abortion as women who are more affluent, according to the Times. Guttmacher analysts believe that a lack of affordable contraception is one of the main reasons for the disparity. However, some public health officials have said that increased funding for contraception is not necessarily the solution, according to the Times. Contraception alone, provided at no cost, will not lower the rate of unintended pregnancies, former U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher said, adding that low-income women also must build confidence and self-esteem, so they will want to prevent unintended pregnancies. "To gain control of these issues, you really have to get beyond sex," Satcher said, adding, "You have to dig deep and look at what's happening in their lives, their relationships and their minds." According to the Times, even when low-income women have access to birth control, "they are often ambivalent about using it -- or too disorganized to remember." Cynthia Harper, an assistant professor at the Center for Reproductive Health Research and Policy at the University of California-San Francisco, said, "To get people to use contraceptives is an effort." In addition, "you'll find almost no intervention or prevention programs targeted at older women," even though women age 20 and older account for about 80% of all unintended pregnancies, according to Laura Gaydos of Emory University. The Planned Parenthood Federation of America and its affiliates devote 30% of a $49 million educational budget to women age 20 and older, and the rest of their budget is geared toward teens, the Times reports (Simon, Los Angeles Times, 6/26).

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