Birth Control – REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS ALERTS

02 Nov

Birth control on the ballot as abortion bans increase barriers to family planning

MollyLatest News, United StatesAbortion Bans, Ballot, Birth Control, Contraception, Healthcare, Reproductive care, United States, Voting

"Millions of Americans will be able to vote on November ballots whether to protect access to contraception. In states where tensions have long boiled over reproductive rights, family planning experts say women face mounting barriers to getting birth control. The fear, confusion and anxiety over abortion has extended to their ability to prevent a pregnancy...."

27 Jun

The First National Data on Birth Control Post-Dobbs Is Here, and the News Is Not Good

MollyLatest News, United StatesAbortion clinics, Birth Control, emergency contraceptives, low-income, National Data, national trends, Plan B, United States

"In the wake of the June 2022 Supreme Court Dobbs decision, as dozens of abortion clinics shut down in states with total or near-total abortion bans, reproductive justice advocates warned that the closures wouldn’t just affect patients seeking to terminate their pregnancies. Family planning clinics have historically provided more than abortion services, often offering basic gynecological health care for women. Indeed, more than 1 in 10 women get their birth control from these clinics, including those that also provide abortions. For low-income patients and people of color, the numbers are closer to one 1 in 5. Without access to affordable and reliable contraception, many more women were…

23 Aug

NC pharmacists emerge as new prescribers of hormonal contraceptives

SaintUnited StatesBirth Control, Contraception, Contraceptives, Healthcare, legislation, North Carolina, Reproductive care, United States

"Work is underway to bolster access to contraception at pharmacies in an effort to combat ‘contraceptive deserts’ amid the post-Roe reproductive health care environment. Reimbursement poses barrier to implementation. A 31-year-old Asian American woman hopped into an Uber on a mission — to head to a pharmacy in New Bern to get birth control. Because of her family’s cultural and religious beliefs, she was not allowed to go to doctors’ appointments alone nor to ask for contraception. But pharmacists’ new ability to prescribe hormonal contraception in North Carolina gave her the opportunity to get connected to the pregnancy prevention method…

21 Aug

‘I was shocked’: Australian Catholic hospitals refuse to provide birth control and abortion

SaintInternational, Latest NewsAbortion Ban, Abortion Care, Abortion Rights, Australia, Birth Control, Catholic, Healthcare, International, Miscarriage, Pregnancy loss, Public Health

"Publicly funded hospitals are using the cover of religion to opt out of providing reproductive care - and experts say it has created a ‘postcode lottery’ for access to services When Sarah*, a Melbourne mother, was pregnant with her second child, her GP gave her a surprising warning: if she had any serious complications, concerns about the viability of the pregnancy or believed she might be miscarrying, she should go to the Royal women’s hospital rather than the Mercy hospital for women, where she was planning to deliver the baby. The reason, the GP told her, was that the Mercy…

15 Aug

California grads headed to HBCUs in the South prepare for college under abortion bans

MollyUnited StatesAbortion Ban, Abortion Rights, Birth Control, California, College, Healthcare, Reproductive rights, United States

"When I'laysia Vital got accepted to Texas Southern University, a historically Black university in Houston, she immediately began daydreaming about the sense of freedom that would come with living on her own, and the sense of belonging she would feel studying in a thriving Black community. Then, a nurse at her high school's health clinic in Oakland, California explained the legal landscape of her new four-year home in Texas – where abortion is now banned completely. Vital watched some TikTok videos of protestors harassing women outside clinics in other states. She realized her newfound freedoms would come at the expense of another. That's…

10 Aug

Extreme Temperatures Threaten Effectiveness of Pregnancy Tests and Birth Control

MollyInternational, United StatesBirth Control, Climate Change, Contraception, Extreme heat, Healthcare, International, Pregnancy Tests, Reproductive care, United States

"Extreme heat has already made pregnancy more dangerous. Now, it is also complicating efforts to control when and how someone becomes pregnant: Record heat waves across the country could threaten access to effective pregnancy tests, condoms and emergency contraception pills. All of these items can sustain serious damage in extreme heat, rendering them ineffective when used. And all have become critical resources for people living in states with abortion bans and who are trying to avoid pregnancy. In those states, few options exist to terminate an unintended pregnancy other than acquiring abortion pills online or traveling out of state for care.…

11 May

Nevada advances proposal to enshrine abortion rights into state constitution

MollyUnited StatesAbortion Rights, Birth Control, Healthcare, legislation, Nevada, Postpartum care, Prenatal care, Reproductive care, Reproductive Health, Reproductive rights, United States

"Nevada lawmakers on Wednesday passed a joint resolution that would codify reproductive rights — including already-existing abortion access up to 24 weeks — into the state constitution. The state Assembly approved of the measure 28 to 14 along party lines, about three weeks after the state Senate passed it 13 to 8 along party lines. State lawmakers must pass the resolution again in 2025 before it would go before voters as a ballot question in 2026. If passed, the resolution would provide the highest level of state protection for not only abortion rights, but also other reproductive access, including postpartum…

10 May

Advisers to the FDA back first over-the-counter birth control pill

MollyUnited StatesBirth Control, FDA, Healthcare, Opill, Over-the-counter, United States

"In a unanimous vote, 17-0, a panel of advisers to the Food and Drug Administration recommended that the agency approve the first over-the-counter birth control pill...."