Abortion pill has not improved geographic access to abortion

Expectations that the abortion pill mifepristone would dramatically improve abortion access in the United States have not been realized. New research published in this month’s issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology finds that, although use of mifepristone has become widespread and has contributed to the shift toward earlier abortions, its use has not improved women’s ability to access abortion services…more

Facts distorted in debate on impact of abortion coverage

Some anti-abortion advocates falsely attribute the claim that health care reform would significantly increase abortions in the United States to the Guttmacher Institute. They appear to be both confused about a recent Guttmacher study on the impact of the Hyde amendment and are inappropriately extrapolating its findings to the health care reform debate. Susan Cohen, Guttmacher’s director of government affairs, sets the record straight...more

Also see this recent Guttmacher Institute memo on insurance coverage of abortion...more

Maternal mortality remains high in India, despite slow decline

Tim Graham/Getty ImagesAlthough maternal mortality in India is declining, it remains unacceptably high, according to a new report released today by the Guttmacher Institute and the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) in Mumbai. Maternal deaths in India, the world’s second most populous country, constitute one-quarter of all maternal deaths globally...more

This report is the second in a two-part series on India. The first, released last month, addressed early marriage...more

Adolescent women's contraceptive use is less consistent than that of adults

Willem Jan CaminadaA new study of women’s contraceptive use around the world finds that sexually active 15–19-year-olds are more likely than their 20–49-year-old counterparts to use contraceptives inconsistently and, on average, experience a 25% higher rate of contraceptive failure...more

Medicaid funding restrictions result in 1 in 4 poor women carrying an unwanted pregnancy to term

Approximately one-fourth of women who would obtain a Medicaid-funded abortion if given the option instead carry an unwanted pregnancy to term when state laws restrict Medicaid funding for abortion, because they lack the money to pay for the procedure themselves. It is time for Congress to repeal the Hyde Amendment and restore Medicaid coverage for abortion so that every woman, regardless of her economic circumstances, has the right to decide when and whether to have a child…more

Unintended births on the rise among young women in Nigeria

©iStockphoto/RuffraidoBetween 1990 and 2003, Nigeria made large improvements in young women's educational attainment, but the country experienced only modest declines in early marriage and adolescent childbearing, while the unintended birthrate rose (from 10% to 16%), according to new analysis from the Guttmacher Institute and the Women's Health and Action Research Centre in Benin City, Nigeria...more

This report is the second in a two-part series on Nigeria. The first, released last month, addressed Nigeria's high levels of maternal mortality...more

For most STIs, testing and treatment is a key strategy to prevent long-term harm

Screening and treatment to keep sexually transmitted infections from causing serious harm is a critical, if under-appreciated public health intervention. Rather than focusing so much on the total numbers of infections in the country, policymakers and the public should concentrate more on ways to block the consequences of these infections...more

Also read our new fact sheet on STIs…more

Power dynamics within relationships may play a role in sexual risk-taking

© Solus-Veer/CorbisWhich partner has the higher income, greater control over sexual and contraceptive decisions, and the stronger commitment to the relationship may play a role in couples' decisions to engage in risky behavior. Click here for more on this study and others in the June issue of Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health…more

Contraception, a life-saving investment for the Philippines

© Sylvester SaldanaOur new opinion article makes the case for investing in voluntary family planning services in the Philippines. The article, authored by Guttmacher President and CEO Sharon Camp and Josefina V. Cabigon of the University of the Philippines Population Institute, was published on ABS-CBN News.

More than half of the Philippines' 3.4 million annual pregnancies are unintended, and 92% of these occur to women who either use no contraceptive method or use a traditional one. A new report documents the considerable social and financial benefits of investing in contraceptive services…more