Since I'm graduating from med school in 2 months, I figured I'd throw some medical knowledge into this discussion:
Contraceptive Failure Rates
Ideal-use failure rates: (assumes
absolute perfect use)
#Sterilization:
## Male Sterilization-----0.1%
##Female Sterilization----0.5%
#Hormonal Methods:
##Implant (Norplant)----0.09%
##Hormone Shot (Depo-Provera)---0.3%
##Combined Pill (Estrogen/Progestin)---0.1%
##Minipill (Progestin only)---0.5%
#Intrauterine Devices (IUDs):
##Copper T---0.6%
##Progesterone T---1.5%
#Barrier Methods:
##Male Latex Condom---3%
##Diaphragm----6%
##Vaginal Sponge (no previous births)---9%
##Vaginal Sponge (previous births)----20%
##Cervical Cap (no previous births)---9%
##Cervical Cap (previous births)---26%
##Female Condom----5%
#Spermicide: (gel, foam, suppository, film)---6%
#Natural Methods:
##Withdrawal---4%
##Natural Family Planning (calendar, temperature, cervical mucus)---1-9%
#No Method:----85%
"Real-life" failure rates:
# Implants and injectables
2-4%
# Oral contraceptives
9%
# Diaphragm and cervical cap
13%
# Male condom
15%
# Periodic abstinence
22%
# Withdrawal
26%
# Spermicides
28%
(statistics taken from FDA data)
Let me add that in my mere 2 years of clinical experience, I've seen many pregnancies in couples that used contraception exactly as labeled (and I asked details). I've also seen many people not use contraception correctly & not get pregnant.
Rape & Sexual Assault Statistics
General Stats Using Broad Definition of Rape As "Unwanted Sexual Activity":
#One out of every three women will be raped in her lifetime.
#One out of four girls and one out of six boys are sexually abused before age 18.
#84% of rapes go unreported; 46% of survivors of acquaintance rape and 27% of stranger rape survivors never tell anyone.
#77% of rape survivors know their attacker. These include rapes committed by relatives, neighbors, acquaintances and boyfriends. 57% of rapes occur on a date.
#90% of children under the age of 12 knew their assailants.
#51-60% of college men report they would rape a woman if they were certain that they would get away with it. One out of twelve college men surveyed had committed acts that met the legal definition of rape; 84% of these men said what they did was DEFINITELY not rape.
#One in every seven married women will be sexually assaulted by her husband.
Finally, Stats from the US Bureau of Justice's National Crime Victimization Survey
#Rape/Sexual Assault: 2001-02: 247,990 women; 2003-04: 204,370 women
#Attempted Rape: 2001-2002: 70,050 women; 2003-04: 43,440 women
#Completed Rape: 2001-02: 87,010 women; 2003-04: 65,510 women
Cliff's Notes:
1). Contraception is not anywhere near perfect, even if perfectly used.
2). Rape is
nowhere near as rare as you want to believe. In just under four years, 152,520 women in the United States
reported being fully raped (not attempted rape). Given that 84% of rapes are unreported, 953,120 women in the U.S. were raped between 2001-2004. Even if half were only attempted rape, that's still nearly
500,000 completed rapes in four years.
Debate morals, etc., that's fine. But please don't think that things are rare because they haven't happened to you. Stew over these numbers and tell me that being a victim of rape or getting pregnant despite using contraception perfectly are extremely rare occurrences in the United States.
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