Statistical Manipulation: Do 98 Percent of Women Use Birth Control?

Terri LaPoint October 5, 2014

72 1 minute read

It is a statistic cited as a foregone conclusion by various politicians and pundits. “98 percent of women use birth control.” It’s as if anyone who doesn’t believe that number has been hiding under a rock or is willfully ignorant of the facts. But where does that number come from? Is it even true? Or could it be that it is a misleading statistic, designed to be sensational, inflaming the passions of women for political gain?

Recently, Democratic strategist Christy Setzer threw out the birth control statistic near the end of a discussion with PolitiChick Dr. Gina Loudon on FOX’s Neil Cavuto show in a segment about the “war on women” controversy. They were addressing a couple of recent statements made by Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz in which she compares Republican governors to abusers giving “the back of his hand” to women.

Along with PolitiChicks Ann-Marie Murrell and Morgan Brittany, fellow authors of What Women Really Want, Dr. Gina has argued that Democrats have charged Republicans with waging a “war on women,” all the while ignoring issues that truly matter to women, such as economic and national security. Like many women, Dr. Gina is weary of women’s issues being relegated to solely women’s reproductive organs and birth control.

“Democrats have been much more concerned about how much free birth control women are getting than they have been concerned about women around the world being raped, insulted, and stoned to death.”

To which comment, Setzer countered with a comment similar to one made by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, “98 percent of women use birth control, so I do actually think that’s an important issue to talk about.”

Loudon’s closing comment expressed her frustration with politicians trying to buy women’s votes over birth control. “Most women can afford their own $15 a month [for birth control], and their vote is not for sale for $15 a month. I’m sorry, it’s just not.”

By then, the segment was out of time, so Dr. Gina was not able to respond to the statistic, but she later did so on her own social media, stating that she wished she had just a few more moments to rebut the 98 percent birth control statistic.

If that 98 percent figure sounds pretty high, that is because it is.