"Rhythm Method" May Kill More Embryos than Other Methods of Contraception ("The Rhythm Method and Embryonic Death")

This is the nonintuitive argument of the week.

From the Journal of Medical Ethics:

[A] condom user ... can count on one embryonic death for each unintended pregnancy. A rhythm method user, however, should count on two to three embryonic deaths for each unintended pregnancy. Assuming a success rate of 95% for condom usage, we can count on an expectation of .5 pregnancies in 10 years. Hence, the expectation of embryonic death is .5 per ten years for a condom user, which is substantially lower than the expectation of two to three embryonic deaths per ten years on the rhythm method. Even a policy of practising condom usage and having an abortion in case of failure would cause less embryonic deaths than the rhythm method.

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