After discussing the recent revelation that Denver Broncos running back Travis Henry “has fathered nine children by nine women,” 630 KHOW-AM co-host Craig Silverman on his August 27 broadcast asked, “Hasn't anybody heard of birth control?” Echoing recent comments in Colorado media by an anti-abortion activist, co-host Dan Caplis responded, “Well, hey, hasn't everybody heard that birth control fails at an alarmingly high rate?” Later in The Caplis & Silverman Show broadcast, Caplis repeated the statement, saying that “birth control does fail, and it fails at an alarmingly high rate.” In fact, the three most popular forms of contraception -- oral contraceptives, sterilization, and male condoms -- have failure rates ranging from 0.15 to 15 percent for the first year of “typical use,” and from 0.1 to 2 percent for the first year of “perfect use,” according to the medical reference book Contraceptive Technology: Nineteenth Revised Edition (Ardent Media, 2007).

Silverman took issue with Caplis' first claim, saying, “I don't think that birth control fails all that often, especially if you take multiple forms of birth control,” and “I'm not buying birth control failure.” But Caplis then simply repeated his earlier remark, stating, “I'm not suggesting that birth control failed in any or all of these instances that ... gave rise to the birth of these nine kids, but what I am saying -- and it ... was a point that's just never discussed publicly -- birth control does fail, and it fails at an alarmingly high rate.”

Caplis did not name any specific forms of birth control, but according to the National Center for Health Statistics' (NCHS) 2005 report "Fertility, Family Planning, and Reproductive Health of U.S. Women: Data from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth ," the most popular contraceptive methods practiced in the United States among women ages 15 to 44 in 2002 were the pill (19 percent), female sterilization (16.7 percent), male sterilization (5.7 percent), and condoms (11.1 percent). Lesser-used forms of birth control included the injection Depo-Provera (3.3 percent), withdrawal during intercourse (2.5 percent), intra-uterine devices (IUDs) (1.3 percent), periodic abstinence -- both “calendar rhythm” and “natural family planning” -- (0.9 percent), patches (0.8 percent), and diaphragms (0.2 percent). Another 38.1 percent of women reported either abstaining from sex or not using contraceptives.

1. Oral contraceptives

According to the 2005 NCHS report, 19 percent of women ages 15 to 44 use birth-control pills. Citing statistics from the 18th Revised Edition of Contraceptive Technology (Ardent Media, 2004), the Guttmacher Institute noted that 0.3 percent of women who use birth control pills perfectly will become pregnant in their first year of use, while 8 percent of women who practice typical usage of the pill will become pregnant in the first year of use. Although the 19th Revised Edition of Contraceptive Technology still is in the process of being published, its 2007 Summary Table of Contraceptive Efficacy is available and states that oral contraceptives work with 92 percent efficacy for “typical use” and with 99.7 percent efficacy with “perfect use.”

According to the authors' website, Contraceptive Technology is “the basic reference book in family planning for physicians and allied health personnel, has sold over 1,500,000 copies in the United States and has been translated into several languages. The authors work closely with 26 other respected clinicians, scientists, and educators to produce the books.”

Other research mirrors the findings published by Contraceptive Technology. For example, a March 2004 Canadian Contraception Consensus report from the clinical practice guidelines of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada describes oral contraceptive pills or the “combined OC” as “a highly effective method of reversible contraception” and further notes:

With perfect use, the combined OC is 99.9% effective in preventing pregnancy. However, typical user failure rates range from 3 to 8%. Poor patient compliance is a major factor in limiting effectiveness.

Moreover, the United States Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) latest figures (from December 2003) show that the failure rate of oral contraceptives is 1 to 2 percent.

2. Sterilization

The 2005 National Survey of Family Growth found that 16.7 percent of women ages 15 to 44 rely on female sterilization and 5.7 percent rely on male sterilization for contraception. According to Contraceptive Technology, female sterilization is 99.5 percent effective (with both typical and perfect use), and male sterilization is 99.85 percent effective with typical use and 99.9 percent effective with perfect use.

Similarly, the FDA reports that failure rates for sterilization are less than 1 percent.

3. Condoms

The 2002 National Survey of Family Growth found that 11.1 percent of women ages 15 to 44 rely on condoms as a contraceptive. According to Contraceptive Technology, the typical-use efficacy rate is 85 percent for male condoms, while the perfect-use rate is 98 percent.

4. Other forms of contraception

Regarding other forms of birth control, Contraceptive Technology's efficacy table shows that diaphragms work with 84 percent efficacy for typical use and 94 percent efficacy for perfect use. The Evra patch and the Nuvra ring are both 92 percent effective with typical use and 99.7 percent effective with perfect use, and IUDs have efficacy rates better than 99 percent for typical and perfect use.

Birth control devices with lower efficacy rates include spermicides, with a typical-use efficacy rate of 71 percent and a perfect-use rate of 82 percent, and sponges, which have different efficacy rates for women who have given birth to children (parous) -- 68 percent typical use and 80 percent perfect use -- and those who have not (nulliparous) -- 84 percent typical use and 91 percent perfect use. Data for the use of sponges and spermicides were not listed in the NCHS report.

In contrast, the figures provided by Contraceptive Technology indicate that for women engaging in sex and using no method of birth control, 85 percent will become pregnant in the first year of doing so.

From the August 27 broadcast of 730 KHOW-AM's The Caplis & Silverman Show:

SILVERMAN: And you can't tell me that Travis Henry will be there for all nine of his kids. He just won't be there. And I'd be very shocked if these were great mothers. Maybe a few of them are, but why are these women getting impregnated? Hasn't anybody heard of birth control? I just think this is a disastrous situation, and it's the kind of thing that's led to so many problems throughout society. Very disappointed.

CAPLIS: Well, hey, hasn't everybody heard that birth control fails at an alarmingly high rate? No, because that doesn't get much discussion. But, that aside, I'm not suggesting there was birth control in play in every one of these nine. But -- but let me ask you this: Bottom line is -- and I understand why it upsets you so much -- do you think that means he should be off the team?

SILVERMAN: Wow, the Broncos have invested a lot of money in him. I'd like to see the guy take some responsibility. I'm disappointed in his statement. What was it, Dan? “I don't want anybody judging me. I'll be judged by God and nobody else can judge me.” We all judge people, and I judge your behavior atrocious. I wouldn't be disappointed if he was not a part of the Denver Broncos. I'd rather see Mike Bell or Cecil Sapp play than somebody who has demonstrated this kind of irresponsibility over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.

CAPLIS: You, you, you -- that was eight.

SILVERMAN: Did I get to nine?

CAPLIS: No, that was eight.

SILVERMAN: And one more “over.”

[...]

SILVERMAN: And, you know, you talk about birth control failing. I don't think that birth control fails all that often, especially if you take multiple forms of birth control, and if, there, there -- so I, I'm not buying birth control failure.

CAPLIS: Well, first of all, for those who just joined us, as I said at the time I made that comment, I'm not suggesting that birth control failed in any or all of these instances that, that gave rise to the birth of these nine kids, but what I am saying -- and it, it was a point that's just never discussed publicly -- birth control does fail, and it fails at an alarmingly high rate.