A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) survey of over 7,000 women revealed that many women, despite their desire to avoid pregnancy, fail to use birth control or do so improperly and ineffectively. The CDC reports that approximately 50 percent of all pregnancies in the United States are unintended. Though oral contraception is 92-99 percent effective when used correctly, many women who rely on this method fail to take the pill consistently – at the same time everyday. Similarly, condoms are reported to be about have a 95 percent effectiveness rate, but their actual effectiveness is about 85 percent due to frequent improper usage. Intrauterine Devices (IUDs) and Depo-Provera, which are not subject to user error, are thus much more effective methods of contraception. The IUD, which has a lifetime of up to ten years and is 99 percent effective, may nevertheless be difficult for young, single women to obtain. Despite the weak correlation between the IUD and sterility and pelvic infection, many doctors will only prescribe the IUD to married women over the age of 25, according to Dr. Beth Jordan of the Feminist Majority Foundation.
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