The medium muddles the message.Confusion about the relationship between emergency contraception Emergency Contraception DefinitionEmergency contraception or emergency birth control uses either emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs) or a Copper-T intrauterine device (IUD) to help prevent pregnancy following unprotected vaginal intercourse. and medical abortion medical abortion Obstetrics An elective nonoperative abortion effected in the 1st trimester by abortifacients. See Abortion. plays a substantial role in debates about emergency contraception. The media, it turns out, are not helping. (1) In a review of newspaper coverage that mentioned both emergency contraception and medical abortion between 1992 and 2002, researchers found at least one inaccuracy in·ac·cu·ra·cy n. pl. in·ac·cu·ra·cies 1. The quality or condition of being inaccurate. 2. An instance of being inaccurate; an error. in 45% of the 1,077 articles sampled: Nearly one-third inaccurately differentiated emergency contraception's and medical abortion's mode of action, and about one in 10 used terms that blurred the distinction. Some articles "were so muddled mud·dle v. mud·dled, mud·dling, mud·dles v.tr. 1. To make turbid or muddy. 2. To mix confusedly; jumble. 3. To confuse or befuddle (the mind), as with alcohol. that they were indecipherable." Half of the articles explicitly compared the two modes of action; of these, 52% contained only inaccurate statements, 32% only accurate statements, and 16% both accurate and inaccurate ones. The bulk of inaccurate statements appeared in letters (64%) or were attributed to activist or religious individuals or groups (78%). The researchers stress that inaccuracies about emergency contraception in the media "should not be underestimated" and that "providing consistent and accurate information should be a priority" in the debate regarding its over-the-counter status. (1.) Pruitt SL and Mullen PD, Contraception contraception: see birth control. contraception Birth control by prevention of conception or impregnation. The most common method is sterilization. The most effective temporary methods are nearly 99% effective if used consistently and correctly. or abortion? inaccurate descriptions of emergency contraception in newspaper articles, 1992-2002, Contraception, 2005, 71(1):14-21. Dore Hollander, executive editor of Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health Within the framework of WHO's definition of health[1] as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, reproductive health, or sexual health/hygiene . |
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