What happened when Colorado offered free birth control? Teen birthrate and abortions plummeted.

[FSogol]

The state of Colorado has been conducting a massive experiment with birth control over the last 6 years. Teens and low-income women were offered free IUDs and implants that prevent pregnancy for years. Officials wondered if women would sign up for the family planning assistance if it were free.

Sabrina Tavernese in the New York Times:

They did in a big way, and the results were startling. The birthrate for teenagers across the state plunged by 40 percent from 2009 to 2013, while their rate of abortions fell by 42 percent, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. There was a similar decline in births for another group particularly vulnerable to unplanned pregnancies: unmarried women under 25 who have not finished high school.

“Our demographer came into my office with a chart and said, ‘Greta, look at this, we’ve never seen this before,’ ” said Greta Klingler, the family planning supervisor for the public health department. “The numbers were plummeting.”

Rest of Boing Boing article here:
http://boingboing.net/2015/07/06/what-happened-when-colorado-of.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+boingboing%2FiBag+%28Boing+Boing%29

[riversedge]

1. If only all states would do this

[olegramps]

22. The Repulican controlled legislature wants to defund the program.

[MineralMan]

2. For women who opt for it, implant contraception should be available

free everywhere. Teens under 18, too, I believe. Unwanted pregnancies are a life issue for young women that can alter the entire course of the rest of their lives. While a few young women wish to become pregnant, most do not, and a majority would opt for implants that would prevent pregnancies for a few years without any further action.

Some may mention possible health risks, and those do exist, but screening can minimize that, and an unwanted pregnancy is also a serious health risk, both for the young woman and any child conceived under adverse conditions or when unwanted.

The cost of offering this free contraception would be more than offset by the cost of unwanted pregnancies to society as a whole and to these unwilling young women, as well.

For any who choose this form of contraception it should be absolutely free at any age, but young women, especially, would benefit most from such a program, I believe.

[Liberal_in_LA]

18. why not pill birth control also

[procon]

3. This is a universal constant.

Teens that learn about sex based on scientific information know that birth control is the only workable solution and they will take advantage of programs that provide free, no-questions-asked family planning assistance. This same concept works just as effectively in other countries that offer free, or nearly so, access to public services like education, healthcare and child care that improve and uplift the lives of their citizens, benefits everyone. Its an easy win-win scenario that could change our whole social and cultural structure.

[volstork]

24. It may be win-win for the people,

but not for the 1% who want to keep everyone else under their thumbs.

[procon]

27. Truth, that. nt

[3catwoman3]

4. Imagine...

...that!

[FSogol]

5. Exactly. Who knew?

Just another example of how false morality harms us all.

[calimary]

8. Same thing with "abstinence only" education. How's THAT working out for everybody?

Perhaps we should let Bristol Palin step up and explain that one to all of us, 'eh?

[tclambert]

13. Abstinence works great when teenagers exercise sound judgment

and resist the temptations of the flesh. Hmm. The arithmetic doesn't quite work out on that. Who was it who exercises sound judgment? Members of Congress? No, that wasn't it. Religious extremists? No, not them either. Darn, I'm drawing a blank.

[MineralMan]

6. Here's an informative map of teen birth rates by state.

Numbers are annual birth counts per thousand:

[kairos12]

7. Red States turned green.

[blondie58]

9. So proud of

My state!

[SunSeeker]

10. Reality has a liberal bias. nt

[volstork]

25. Well said!

N/t

[Scalded Nun]

11. Gosh, an expected result when common sense, intelligence and decency are applied

Too bad none of those concepts apply to the nut-jobs and self-described 'Christians' on the right.

[stevenleser]

12. K&R&shared everywhere!

[lark]

14. Colorado is a rather enlightened state in many ways.

Of course this would happen, unwanted pregnancies will naturally go down when young women are giving viable affordable options to prevent it. Most teen pregnancies aren't by choice, they're by lust and accident. The young woman's beliefs prevent the abortion or her family pressures her into having the child and there you go.

This is an extremely smart sane policy, way to go CO.

[StevieM]

15. I can't wait for RISUG/VasalGel to hit the market. I think it will be a real game changer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reversible_inhibition_of_sperm_under_guidance

http://www.healthline.com/health-news/male-birth-control-procedure-in-trials-012313

http://www.parsemusfoundation.org/vasalgel-faqs/

Check out the third link for FAQs.

[Dont call me Shirley]

16. Good job CO for preventing unwanted pregnancies. Unwanted children suffer immensely.

[The Jungle 1]

17. This is not new news!

A study from Washington University School of Medicine clearly demonstrated the same results several years ago.

What is missing is for Democrats to SCREAM at republicans that our plan has reduced abortion in this country. Obamacare has done more to reduce abortion that any other republican law ever passed. Obama does not even take credit for this huge success of Obamacare.

We are getting no PRESS for this huge success!

We really need to take credit for this one.

We will not end abortion in our country. Changing the law will not stop abortion. It didn't work before and it will not work now. We can reduce abortion and Obama has proven that. He needs to take credit for it.

[valerief]

19. Why on earth would that surprise them? Kudos to them for doing it, but

what the hell did they expect? More babies? More abortions?

[StevieM]

20. Actually, yes. Sort of.

The right wing position is that contraception encourages more pre-marital sex, and therefore more pregnancies and abortions after the contraception inevitably fails.

I say "sort of" because I don't think they really believe this, they only say it in order to justify their opposition to sex education and birth control.

What the right wing really wants is absolutely no sex outside of heterosexual marriage, and when it does happen, and results in pregnancy, they want EVERY SINGLE CHILD born out of wedlock to be given up for adoption.

[valerief]

23. Their are the RW oligarchs, their RW agents/whores (pols and media), and the RW masses.

You're talking about what the RW masses want, based on their interpretation of what the RW agents say. What the RW oligarchs want are wedge issues to get the total masses fighting with each other. Granted, the RW oligarchs want more bodies to feed their WAR MACHINE, so they can profit from MORE WAR. But they can always find/buy idiots for that. They really want wedge issues. And the RW agents? They want the RW oligarchs money, so they'll say/do whatever they're paid to.

[tanyev]

21. But, but, them wimmen are still having SEX!

[NanceGreggs]

26. I hope you realize ...

... that when someone posts FACTS about birth control/sex education (or FACTS about anything else, for that matter), millions of GOPers hold up crucifixes, sprinkle holy water, and pray that Jesus will make the FACTS go away.

Hope you're happy now.