Copyright 2000 The Washington Post
The Washington
Post
August 19, 2000, Saturday, Final Edition
SECTION: OP-ED; Pg. A17; FREE FOR ALL
LENGTH: 371 words
HEADLINE:
Covering Contraceptives (Cont'd)
BODY:
Cory L. Richards, vice president for Public Policy at the Alan
Guttmacher Institute (AGI), writes: "The most widely used
contraceptive methods reduce a woman's risk of pregnancy by
more than 90 percent" [Free for All, Aug. 5].
Actually, Table 4 of the
AGI report on contraceptive failure rates as found on the Web
indicates that the contraceptive failure rate is 18.9 percent
for black women, 14.9 percent for Hispanic women and 10.1 percent for white
women.
Kate Michelman, president of the National Abortion and
Reproductive Rights Action League, writes that providing
insurance for contraceptives would save
insurers by "preventing unintended pregnancies" and related medical costs.
Apparently, she is unaware of the data on contraceptive failure
rates. A more effective way to prevent pregnancy is natural family planning
(NFP). This method tracks a woman's symptoms and temperature to determine when
she is fertile. When she abstains from intercourse during her fertile periods,
she will not become pregnant. NFP requires a woman to refrain from intercourse
several days of each menstrual cycle. The World Health Organization did a
five-country study (Philippines, India, Ireland, New Zealand and El Salvador)
and concluded that NFP is 98.6 percent to 99 percent effective in postponing
pregnancy when used correctly.
Another way of looking at the
contraception advocated by Richards and Michelman is that out of every 10,000
black women who use contraceptives 1,890 will become pregnant
in a year, while if 10,000 black women use NFP, between 100 and 140 will become
pregnant. After a minimal investment for a thermometer, NFP has no recurring
costs, and that is why it does not receive a good deal of publicity. No one
makes money on it--not obstetricians, not drug companies, not
contraceptive manufacturers. Given the minuscule cost and the
low failure rate of NFP, the only reason to argue for insurance
coverage of contraceptives is to enable unlimited sexual
pleasure.
If insurance companies are going to cover
"pleasure" as such, I advocate that they also cover my dinner wine, which is
pleasurable and has the added benefit of helping to maintain a healthy heart.
--Francois L. Quinson
LOAD-DATE: August 19,
2000