AI Generated Image
There's a birth control backlash online. Can it explain the rise in abortions?
NPR • • nation
Key Points:
- After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, there was a notable increase in the use of long-acting and permanent birth control methods, such as IUDs, implants, vasectomies, and tubal ligations.
- Currently, patients in states with longstanding abortion bans, like Indiana, focus more on practical concerns like insurance coverage, method preference, and financial costs rather than abortion restrictions when deciding on contraception.
- Social media influencers promoting anti-hormonal birth control messages have contributed to contraception being widely maligned, despite scientific evidence supporting the safety and efficacy of hormonal methods.
- Surprisingly, abortion numbers have risen even as bans have increased, with experts suggesting this may be due to greater access to telehealth medication abortions rather than changes in contraception use.
- Surveys indicate that contraception use among sexually active reproductive-age women remains steady, with around 82% using some form of birth control in recent years, showing little impact from abortion bans on overall contraceptive prevalence.
