TRUMP WANTS TO REPLACE BIRTH CONTROL WITH THE DUBIOUS 'CALENDAR METHOD' [View all]

[RandySF]

The Trump administration wants to replace reliable birth control methods with "fertility awareness," a dubious family-planning technique that fails nearly a quarter of women every year.

In a leaked memo obtained by Crooked, White House officials wrote that they intend to slash federal funding to the U.S. Agency for International Development's family-planning budget and require "equal funding" for fertility awareness. The memo further specifies that fertility planning should be the sole birth control method made available to young girls.

Newsweek has reached out to the White House for comment on the memo and hasn't heard back. Newsweek couldn't independently verify the veracity of the memo.

Fertility planning, also known as the "calendar method" or "rhythm method," requires women to diligently track their menstrual cycles, pinpoint the days when they're ovulating and avoid sex during that time in order to be effective. Because about 30 percent of women experience irregular periods, fertility planning has one of the highest rates of failure of any family-planning method. The calendar method also asks a lot of young girls, who often learn little about sex and reproduction thanks to abstinence-only education across the country.


http://www.newsweek.com/trump-replace-birth-control-fertility-awareness-leaked-document-689840?utm_campaign=NewsweekTwitter&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social