The copper IUD for emergency contraception, a neglected option

摘要

It can be argued that the most important failing of modern family planning is the persistent epidemic of unintended pregnancy. In developing countries, about 75 million pregnancies annually are unintended, a number close to the 80 million growth of world population each year [1]. In the United States, about half of pregnancies are unintended [2]. By the age of 45 years, about half of women in the United States will have experienced an unintended pregnancy, and one third will have had an abortion [3]. The fact that 47% of the 1.2 million annual abortions in the United States are repeat procedures is additional evidence of ineffective or nonuse of contraception [3].