TY - JOUR T1 - Fertility Awareness Methods Are Not Modern Contraceptives: Defining Contraception to Reflect Our Priorities JF - Global Health: Science and Practice JO - GLOB HEALTH SCI PRACT SP - 342 LP - 345 DO - 10.9745/GHSP-D-16-00044 VL - 4 IS - 2 AU - Kirsten Austad AU - Anita Chary AU - Alejandra Colom AU - Rodrigo Barillas AU - Danessa Luna AU - Cecilia Menjívar AU - Brent Metz AU - Amy Petrocy AU - Anne Ruch AU - Peter Rohloff Y1 - 2016/06/20 UR - http://www.ghspjournal.org/content/4/2/342.abstract N2 - A recent article in GHSP calls for classifying fertility awareness methods as “modern contraceptives” despite their inferiority. We believe in a rights-based approach, which considers the real-world conditions that many women face, including constrained sexual agency and low baseline reproductive health literacy. We must demonstrate true commitment to increasing access to the most effective and reliable contraceptive methods.See related article by Malarcher.Unintended pregnancy is both a global public health challenge and an important human rights issue.1 Worldwide 40% of pregnancies are unintended.2 These unintended pregnancies pose significant health risks to women because of the obstetrical risks of multiple births, short interpregnancy intervals, and unsafe abortions, as well as because they worsen poverty-related inequalities. Addressing this unmet need for family planning mandates a coordinated response of dedicated human resources, economic investment, and application of the best-available scientific evidence. Highly efficacious and safe methods of contraception including injectable and oral contraceptives, sterilization, and long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs), comprising implants and intrauterine devices (IUDs), are key to this effort.Global data on the use of various forms of contraception are important for understanding rates of unplanned pregnancies, monitoring unmet contraceptive needs, and tracking user preferences. For this reason, the term “modern contraceptives” has been introduced as an umbrella term grouping together barrier methods, injectable and oral contraceptives, LARCs, and sterilization. While no precise consensus on the term “modern contraceptives” exists, one compelling definition claims they “are technological advances designed to overcome biology” that “enable couples to have sexual intercourse at any mutually desired time.”3“Modern contraceptives” is an umbrella term describing barrier methods, injectables, oral contraceptives, implants, IUDs, and sterilization.In the March 2016 issue of Global Health: Science and Practice, Malarcher et al.4 advocate, on behalf of the United States Agency for International Development … ER -