Providing teenagers with free, long-acting methods of contraception can cut their birth and abortion rates nearly in half, according to a yearslong experiment conducted by the the state of Colorado.
The New York Times reports that the abortion rate for teenagers in Colorado dropped by 42 percent from 2009 to 2013 after the state offered them free intrauterine devices and contraceptive implants, which can prevent pregnancies for years, through a private grant program. The birth rates among teenagers and another demographic -- unmarried women under 25 who did not complete high school -- also dropped by about 40 percent in the same period.
The results of Colorado's experiment shed new light on the birth control debate currently happening in Congress. Republicans, most of whom oppose abortion rights, have proposed a bill that encourages the Food and Drug Administration to make the birth control pill available over the counter, but they do not support the provision of the Affordable Care Act that requires insurers to cover all methods of contraception at no cost to women.
Congressional Democrats, meanwhile, have long pushed to ensure that women can obtain the full range of contraception, including IUDs and implants, for free through their insurance plans. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) introduced a bill in June to ensure that if the FDA makes birth control available over the counter, it is still covered without a co-pay and without the need for a prescription. "I believe strongly that women should be able to get the comprehensive health care they need, when they need it without being charged extra, without asking permission, and without politicians interfering," Murray said in a statement.
Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), the author of the Republicans' birth control bill, told HuffPost that Murray's bill "does nothing to help address the current lack of available OTC contraceptives."
"By contrast, our bill encourages manufacturers to apply to the FDA to move their products OTC, applies to a broader range of contraceptive methods, and provides women with more purchasing power by eliminating the Obamacare FSA and HSA restrictions for OTC products," she said. "And nothing in our bill changes current insurance coverage requirements for contraceptives."
Obamacare already requires employers to cover long-acting methods of contraception with no co-pay, but as The Huffington Post reported, many insurers are still erroneously charging women for birth control or not covering the full range of methods. With a new administration in 2016, the GOP could have the power to strip the benefit altogether. Republicans have repeatedly tried to repeal the ACA, and they supported the Supreme Court's decision last summer to allow some employers to opt out of covering birth control for moral reasons. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives is also trying to eliminate the nation's only family planning grant program, which provides contraception to low-income women across the country.
The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, a nonpartisan association of doctors, said it supports over-the-counter contraception, but increased access to birth control means nothing if women can't afford to purchase it.
"Of course, cost continues to be a major factor in a woman’s consistent use of contraception, and many women simply cannot afford the out-of-pocket costs associated with contraceptives, OTC or not," the group said in a statement. "That’s why ACOG strongly supports the Affordable Care Act (ACA) provision that mandates insurance coverage of birth control, as well as other preventive services, without cost-sharing for the patient."
Dana Liebelson contributed reporting.
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