Fertility Awareness Methods Are Not Modern Contraceptives: Defining Contraception to Reflect Our Priorities
Kirsten Austad, Anita Chary, Alejandra Colom, Rodrigo Barillas,dDanessa Luna, Cecilia Menjı´var, Brent Metz, Amy Petrocy, Anne Ruch, Peter Rohloffa
A recent article in GHSP calls for classifying fertility awareness methods as ‘‘modern contraceptives’’ despite their inferiority. We believe in a rights-based approach, which considers the real-world conditions that many women face, including constrained sexual agency and low baseline reproductive health literacy. We must demonstrate true commitment to increasing access to the most effective and reliable contraceptive methods.
Unintended pregnancy is both a global public health challenge and an important human rights issue.1 Worldwide 40% of pregnancies are unintended.2 These unintended pregnancies pose significant health risks to women because of the obstetrical risks of multiple births, short interpregnancy intervals, and unsafe abortions, as well as because they worsen povertyrelated inequalities. Addressing this unmet need for family planning mandates a coordinated response of dedicated human resources, economic investment, and application of the best-available scientific evidence. Highly efficacious and safe methods of contraception including injectable and oral contraceptives, sterilization, and long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs), comprising implants and intrauterine devices (IUDs), are key to this effort.
Click here to read the full article Global Health: science and Practice