Sunday, February 17, 2013

Birth Control and Religion

Percentage of women aged 15 to 44 who have ever used birth control by religious affiliation...

No affiliation: 99.4%
Catholic: 98.6%
Fundamentalist Protestant : 99.4%
Other Protestant: 99.5%

Source: National Center for Health Statistics, National Survey of Family Growth, Contraceptive Methods Women Have Ever Used: United States, 1982-2010

1 comment:

Susan Mitchell said...

It's also very interesting to see the shares using some form of barrier or hormonal contraceptive.

Women who have used "any highly effective, reversible method" of birth control:

No affiliation: 87.3%
Catholic: 84.3%
Fundamentalist Protestant: 90.5%
Other Protestant: 89.8%

Given that for some of these women, using these types of birth control (which includes all types of hormonal contraceptives as well as IUDs) goes against the tenets of their religion, the need to prevent conception is enormously important in women's lives.