Ohio advocates expect the new year to include a fight to protect access to contraceptives at the federal and state levels, as the latest CDC data shows Americans are using birth control methods.
In the latest National Survey of Family Growth, analyzing numbers for 2022-2023, the CDC found that 35.7% of women ages 15 to 49 used “family planning services” this year, with the largest age group using The services are provided to women aged 20-29. The most popular service was contraception, used by 23.5% of women.
“Using family planning services allows women to achieve their desired birth date, birth spacing, and family size,” the CDC said in the report. “Women can receive related health services when they use family planning services, such as pap smears. For others, a visit to a family planning center may be their only contact with the medical system.”
The new data comes at what advocates call the “strongest moment” in concerns about reproductive rights, with a shift in presidential leadership and Republican-led statehouses that have introduced anti-abortion and other bodily autonomy measures.
Dwayne Steward, executive director of Equality Ohio, said concerns about body autonomy extend to the LGBTQ+ community, especially transgender people, who are using this time to “stockpile” medications like hormone replacement therapy to make sure they have it. what they need for medications or services related to obtaining medications will be taken away.
“People are purchasing Plan B and stockpiling contraceptives because there is still a need,” Steward said. “People are preparing for these things to be taken away because when you remove something from society, people will make sure that the need will be met, whether it is removed or not.”
Because discussions about whether contraceptive legislation will be needed – even in Ohio, which passed a constitutional amendment in 2023 to include contraception in reproductive rights protected by the amendment, those who need medication for themselves understand that obtaining medication is an individual matter.
“There’s a lot of burden in begging for your own interests and making sure you’re proactive when it comes to that,” Steward said.
Over the past year, policy advocates at Equitas Health have been working on issues they believe are closely related to contraceptive coverage, including sex education, pre-exposure prophylaxis to prevent HIV, treatment to prevent bacterial sexually transmitted diseases, and direct work focusing on on contraception.
“Much of this policy work has been particularly focused at the federal level, given the greater opportunity to address broader issues of health care access,” Rhea Debussy, director of external affairs at Equitas Health, told the Capital Journal.
It is unclear what regulations the new administration might consider, especially since Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump, was chosen to lead the Department of Health and Human Services without commenting on his position on contraception. However, he had previously taken the false position that HIV was transmitted by homosexuals using drugs, among other concerns on his appointment as head of the national primary health care agency.
One attempt in June to protect contraception at the federal level was: detained by members of the Republican Party in the US Senate.
Protecting access to contraceptives, IUDs and condoms at all levels is “essential to ensuring that every person has access to the contraceptives that work best for their body and individual health care needs,” Debussy said.
While Debussy said Ohio’s Reproductive Rights Amendment does protect Ohioans’ ability to make decisions about contraception, she said specific state legislation on contraceptive employ is also vital to “increasing access to care for communities in need.”
CDC data on contraceptive employ for 2022–2023 showed that the largest group of women using contraceptives had incomes 300% above or above the federal poverty level. Women with household incomes less than 150% of the federal poverty level accounted for only 20.1% of women using contraception.
“We remain committed to improving care for all through our public policy work in the Ohio Statehouse and the U.S. Congress, and as always, we will continue to work with both Republicans and Democrats on issues important to Ohioans and their health,” he added. – said Debussy.
Steward said Equality Ohio also plans to continue fighting legislation that impacts LGBTQ+ people, including those that could become law and regulate contraception, gender-affirming care and other medical treatments.
“It’s hard to understand how these types of laws help society in any way,” Steward said.
He said Equality Ohio “maintains our resolve” and plans to lend a hand any Ohioan who wants to oppose legislation that could negatively impact their lives.
“We are Ohioans and we deserve to be represented by our legislators in the same way as every other Ohioan,” Steward said.
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