Contraceptive access is essential for reproductive autonomy and health equity. Access in the United States reflects longstanding inequities, with greater hurdles faced by people from minoritized communities, lacking insurance, living in poverty, or facing language barriers.
What state people live in has long influenced access to family planning services, and those divides have intensified since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, allowing states to ban abortion care. Immediately after the decision, internet searches for birth control skyrocketed. Despite increased desire for contraception, access declined, especially in states with abortion bans.
In a new JAMA Internal Medicine commentary, Cynthia Harper, PhD, Director of the Beyond the Pill program, along with, Katherine Brown, MD, MAS, of the UCSF Bixby Center and Black Women’s Health & Livelihood Initiative, and Kavita Shah Arora, MD, MBE, MS, of the University of North Carolina, highlight how states are making it more difficult to access contraception. They offer policies, training, and models of care that could help achieve contraceptive justice post Roe—where everyone has the rights, access, and resources to receive contraceptive care.