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by bobthechef 3800 days ago
They're also percentages with no actual absolute numbers. People often interpret percentages while falsely assuming that other things remain constant. For example, if condom use is accepted and people come to believe condoms work, they may be more likely to have sex more frequently because their fear of contracting STDs and pregnancy have decreased. This means that the failure rate no longer pertains to the original frequency of sexual intercourse but the new one. This way, the number of actual failures (vs. just the rate) may exceed the original, and with it the number of abortions. This way, condoms actually enable the behavior whose consequences they were intended to limit. Yay, big picture.