What are the chances of having an unintended pregnancy?
•More than 50% of pregnancies are unintended in the United States, and more than half of such unintended pregnancies end in abortion. An estimated 43% of all US women will have had an abortion by the age of 45.

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What is the number of unplanned pregnancies that occur annually?
•In 1995 the National Survey of Family Growth Study indicated that 49% of all pregnancies were unintended, and 54% of these were terminated through elective abortion. The minority — 46% of unplanned pregnancies
— resulted in birth. In 1994, there were about 5.38 million pregnancies in the United States (excluding 930,000 estimated miscarriages), approximately 3.95 million of which resulted in birth and 1.43 million of which resulted in abortion.

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Is there any difference in the rate of abortion between married and unmarried women?
•It has been reported that 37% of married women and 65% of unmarried women who had unintended
pregnancy sought abortion.

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For how many years does an average women has to worry about unintended pregnancies?
•The study from the Alan Guttmacher Institute, Fulfilling the Promise: 2000 shows — · Typical age at first intercourse: 17.4 years old. · Typical age of menopause: 51.3 years old. · Years of sexual exposure: 33.9 years. · Years required for 2 planned births: 3.0 years. · Years at risk for unintended pregnancy: 30.9 years. · Potential number of ovulatory periods for which protection is needed: 402 periods.

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Do women have enough knowledge about birth control?
•No. There were 17.6 million women who visited their healthcare providers in 1995 seeking counsel or treatment relating to birth control. In 1993 the Yale University Health Services Department did a study to check the knowledge of their students, faculty and employees. The study showed that more than 40% of women believed that the pills were a great health risk and about 50% thought that birth control pills caused breast cancer. 80% of women thought that the birth control pills were not associated with any extra health benefits apart from preventing pregnancies. This proves that even educated women do not always have proper birth control knowledge.

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Why is this book so important for teenagers?
•Currently, the media focuses on “children having children.” It is well known that teenagers today are having sexual intercourse at an earlier age than in previous generations. The percentage of girls who have had sexual intercourse by age fifteen is 25%, by age sixteen the percentage is 40% and by age seventeen it is more that 50%. At the beginning of adult life, by age nineteen, more that 75% of teenagers have had sexual intercourse. More than 80% of pregnant teenagers have unintended pregnancies. Teenage girls are at the highest risk for complications associated with pregnancy and suffer the greatest economic disadvantages of any other age group faced with this responsibility.

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Why is the knowledge about emergency birth control so important?
•Emergency birth control prevents unintended pregnancies. It is thought that if used properly, this method would reduce unintended pregnancies in America by 1.5 million. The number of abortions will also decrease by 700,000.

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Why should I worry about sexually transmitted diseases?
Sexually transmitted diseases are very common. Most people are not aware about these infections, because most infections don't have any symptoms. These infections are present in every racial, socioeconomic, religious and geographic background. Every person is at risk of contracting these diseases. Herpes and Human Papilloma Viruses are extremely common. Every year there are more than 5.5 million new infections of Human Papilloma Virus, many of much are linked to cancer of the cervix. There are 4 million new cases of Chamydia, which in many cases causes infection of the fallopian tubes, thereby causing infertility. It has been extimated by age 25, more than 33% of the population will have a sexually transmitted disease. 15 million new cases of STDs are diagnosed each year.