Directive counseling on long-acting contraception.

Abstract

National rates of unintended births are a major public health concern. The availability of highly effective long-acting contraceptives has prompted some public officials to promote the coercive use of these methods to reduce such problems as intergenerational poverty and child abuse. Broad-brush public policies that require long-term contraceptive use are unethical. However, persuasion to use these methods can be appropriate. One place for exerting ethically justified influence is in family planning counseling. The dominant nondirective counseling model, which excludes the possibility of vigorous persuasion, is overly rigid. Family planning professionals should develop practice protocols that permit and guide the exercise of directive counseling to use long-acting contraception.