The Best Intentions: Unintended Pregnancy and the Well-Being of Children and Families

TLDR: In this article, the authors discuss the unintended pregnancy and its consequences in the United States and represent the collaborative efforts of several groups and individuals, and offer specific recommendations to put the USA on par with other developed nations in terms of unintended pregnancy rates, considering the effectiveness of over 20 pregnancy prevention programs.

Abstract: This report concerns unintended pregnancy and its consequences in the United States and represents the collaborative efforts of several groups and individuals. It notes that an estimated 57% of all U.S. pregnancies are unintended and that women of all ages not just adolescents are affected. The book "offers specific recommendations to put the United States on par with other developed nations in terms of unintended pregnancy rates; considers the effectiveness of over 20 pregnancy prevention programs; explores problematic definitions--unintended versus unwanted versus mistimed--and presents data on pregnancy rates and trends; summarizes the health and social consequences of unintended pregnancies for both men and women and for the children they bear; examines Americans ambivalence about sexuality and the many other social cultural religious and economic factors that affect our approach to contraception; [and] explores the complicated web of peer pressure life aspirations and notions of romance that shape an individuals decisions about sex contraception and pregnancy." (EXCERPT)