Good news out of Wisconsin. Despite state anti-abortion groups' fervent attempts to roll back contraceptive access, Planned Parenthood affiliates of Wisconsin report that their ability to furnish Wisconsinites with greater access to family planning have led to a sharp decline in state's unintended pregnancy and abortion rates. A press release from the organization reveals:

"Currently, there are 600,000 Wisconsin women of reproductive age and over 300,000 of them are in need of publicly funded birth control and reproductive health services. Over the last five years, access to contraceptives for these women in need has greatly increased. The BadgerCare Plus Family Planning Program (formerly known as the Family Planning Waiver Program), which provides comprehensive birth control information and services, had 66,000 enrollees in 2006—its highest to date. Enhanced access to Emergency Contraception thanks to over the counter status in late 2006 has also improved women’s awareness of and access to contraceptive methods that work to prevent unintended pregnancy and abortion."

Still more good news, this time about bad policy. This week Women's Enews reported that:

"the number of states participating in the Bush's administration push for abstinence education is down 40 percent over the past two years, as skeptical states are rejecting millions of federal dollars. Around $50 million has been budgeted for 2008, and currently 28 states are in the program. Iowa and Arizona are the latest states to refuse their share of federal grants beginning with the next fiscal year. A congressional study last year concluded the programs were ineffective."

International contraception expert, Dr. James Trussell, is offering a new perspective on what's the best birth control method for women. His answer, one you can forget about. He explains, “The Pill is an outdated method because it does not work well enough. It is very difficult for ordinary women to take a pill every single day. The beauty of the implant or the IUD is that you can forget about them.”

Studies show if 7 per cent of women currently using the Pill switched to a long-acting method, then it would prevent 73,000 unintended pregnancies.