Women in states that enacted abortion bans post-Dobbs are also seeing sharp declines in the use of birth control and emergency contraception The closure of family planning clinics, and confusion among women as to whether or not contraception is illegal in their state, might be driving these trends Overall rates of prescription birth control pills fell by 24% in states with abortion bans or restrictions WEDNESDAY, June 26, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Post-Dobbs bans and restrictions on abortion are having a spillover effect in reducing the use of birth control and emergency contraception in those states most affected, a new study shows. Why the troubling trend? The study's author believes the demise of Roe v. Wade in 2022 triggered the closure of many family planning clinics.
“Because 11% of women rely on such clinics for the provision of prescriptions for contraceptives -- many of which are filled at outside pharmacies -- these closures may have reduced access to oral and emergency contraceptives,” explained study lead author Dr. Dima Qato . She's an associate professor of clinical pharmacy at the University of Southern California (USC).
Qato's team relied on three main sources to gauge trends in prescriptions for birth control and emergency contraception (for example, the "morning after" pill), looking at uptake between March 2021 and October 2023. The sources were the IQVIA National Prescription Audit PayerTrak, which tracks the monthly volume of prescriptions dispensed at.
