The media have been deluging us of late with endless repetitions of the claim that "98 percent of America's Catholic women use contraception." Whence, so the argument goes, isn't it ridiculous for the nation's Catholic bishops to be condemning as evil what the vast majority of their constituents evidently perceive to be good.  (Cue in Kathleen Kennedy Townsend here).  Thus, such is the implication, the bishops have no reason other than stubborn pride to object to paying for sterilization procedures and contraceptive medications (abortifacients included). Following this line of reasoning, were 98 percent of America's Catholics found to be consuming pornography, should the Church then "get with the program" and dump the Sixth Commandment? Or faced with the apostasy of the king and people of Israel, would not the prophet Elijah have been better advised to have switched his allegiance from the more demanding Yahweh to Canaan's much more popular gods?  And as to the cited statistic itself, this "98 percent" of Catholic women who supposedly are practicing contraception - where did this figure come from?

To its credit the Star Tribune reprinted in its Sunday edition for February 19 a report from the Washington Post dealing with this matter. According to the Post report, the "98 percent" figure first saw the light of day courtesy of the Guttmacher Institute, an affiliate of Planned Parenthood. The figure represents the skewed interpretation of the results of a poll taken among a group of some seven thousand self-identified Catholic women, ranging in age from the middle teens to the early forties, who declared themselves to be, or at least to have been, sexually active. In the tabulation of the survey's results respondents who had admitted to the use of a given form of contraception even as little as only once were ranked with those described as regularly "practicing" said form of contraceptive behavior. And it's interesting to note in passing that the secular media have awarded precious little publicity to an important, very recent statement signed by more than sixty American Catholic WOMEN OF NATIONAL PROMINENCE, among them Harvard Professor Mary Ann Glendon. That statement expressed full, whole-hearted ACCORD with the position taken by the U.S. bishops in their official protest against Mr. Obama's capricious decree; it is a declaration of principled, closely reasoned and uncompromising opposition to this president's trampling on the First Amendment with his outrageously intrusive mandate to religious institutions to act in contradiction to their own professed belief.

Such silence of the media vis-á-vis an important Catholic Women's Manifesto illustrates yet once again the liberals' penchant for printing "all the news that fits."

And here vis-á-vis that claim of "98," is the Washington Post report.
Will 98 Percent of Catholic Women Use Contraceptives in their Lifetime?
Star Tribune, February 19, 2012
Reprinted from the Washington Post.

Ever since the battle erupted between Catholic bishops and the Obama administration over providing free contraception coverage as part of health plans for workers, a striking figure has appeared in the news - that 98 percent of Catholic women have used contraceptives. But what does this figure really mean, and where does it come from?

The Claims
"In fact, 98 percent of Catholic women use birth control at some point in their lifetimes." National Public Radio, February 10

"Studies have shown that 98 percent of Catholic women have used artificial contraception at some time in their lives." New York Times, February 10

"Birth Control is widely used even by Catholics: 98 percent of American Catholic women have used contraception in their lifetimes." Washington Post, February 12

"Ninety-eight percent of Catholic women, I am told by all of you, use birth control to determine the size and timing of their families." House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Feb 16

The Facts
The 98 percent figure first appeared in an April 2011 study written by Rachel K. Jones and Joerg Dreweke of the Guttmacher Institute, a non-profit organization that promotes reproductive health and had started as an arm of Planned Parenthood. The study is titled "Countering Conventional Wisdom: New Evidence on Religion and Contraceptive Use."

The study drew on data from the 2006-08 National Survey of Family Growth which relied on interviews with 7,356 females from the ages of 15 to 44.

But while the study says that 98 percent of "sexually experienced Catholic women" have "used a contraceptive method other than natural family planning," the data shown in the report does NOT actually back up that claim. In fact, a supplementary table in the report, on page 8, even appears to UNDERMINE that statistic, since it shows that 11 percent of Catholic women were using NO method at all. That has led to criticism of the statistic.

The Guttmacher Institute, citing "confusion" over the statistic, last week posted the data behind it. It turns out it was based on a question that asked self-identified Catholic women who have had sex if they EVER have used one of the twelve methods of birth control. Jones said the women were asked to answer "yes" or "no" whether they had used each of the different forms; only 2 percent had said they had used only natural family planning.

In other words, a woman may have had sex ONLY ONCE, or she may have had a partner who used a condom ONLY ONCE, and then she would be placed in the 98 percent category. Jones said the correct way to describe the results of the research is this:

"Data shows that 98 percent of sexually experienced women of child-bearing age and who identified themselves as Catholic HAVE  USED [not quite the same as "ARE USING"] a method of contraception other than natural family planning at some point in their lives."

The full survey shows that 86.8 percent of women ages 15 to 44 have had vaginal intercourse.

The data listed in the Guttmacher report, meanwhile, referred to current contraceptive use among "sexually active women who are not pregnant, postpartum or trying to get pregnant." That is a smaller universe of women, and it shows that 68 percent of Catholic women used what are termed "highly effective methods:" 32 percent sterilization; 31 percent pill; 5 percent IUD.

Again, only 2 percent currently used natural family planning. Interestingly, 11 percent used nothing, even though they were not trying to get pregnant.

The Bottom Line
If a statistic sounds too good to be true, be wary. Judging from the examples above, the media got it wrong....
[Emphasis added]