If you’re making efforts to prevent pregnancy in the near future, you’re in good company — 69% of women say they are, too.
This is being attributed, in part, to the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that reversed the half-century precedent of Roe v. Wade, and the resulting struggles of women to receive care for complications of pregnancy. Other new stats — such as the prevalence of the use of emergency contraceptives — also suggest women are being extra-cautious about pregnancy these days.
Furthermore, women also may be exercising caution about how they access emergency contraception.
The Dobbs Decision
The Supreme Court received significant backlash in 2022 when they issued a ruling declaring that the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision — which had stood for 49 years — was no longer in force and that individual states now had the right to pass legislation outlawing abortion.
Many states already had legislation known as ‘trigger laws’—laws that were unenforceable when passed, thanks to the standing Supreme Court ruling, but that could go into effect immediately if (when) Roe was overturned.
It didn’t take long for the effects to show. Doctors began to leave states that would prohibit their practice, and women began to seek care across state lines instead. Now, according to the Texas Tribune, at least three women have died after being unable to receive necessary treatment, with doctors and their legal teams wary of providing miscarriage care that might fall under the state’s strict legislation.
What Women Are Saying About Pregnancy Now
States’ responses to the Dobbs decision are widely varied. Some are passing abortion restrictions, while others are passing protections to ensure access. Some are handing the decision to voters by putting it on the ballot.
Women, meanwhile, are overwhelmingly avoiding pregnancy altogether. A new survey from health policy pollster KFF finds that 69% say it’s “very important” to them to actively prevent pregnancy in the near future.
Furthermore, 82% say they’ve used contraceptives to prevent pregnancy in the past year, and nearly half say they’ve been doubling up, using multiple methods (usually a combination of condoms and oral birth control meds) to be sure.
The Conversation Is Taking Place In The Public Sphere
Many women have been talking about their concerns online, and it has an impact. About 40% of women say that they’ve read something about birth control on social media, and of those, more than a third have continued the conversation offline, speaking to someone else about what they’ve read.
In fact, about 14% of women say that they’ve either made a change in their birth control choices or considered it based on what they’ve read on social media.
Still, those online conversations seem to have missed some significant points — though 12% of women say they have used emergency contraceptives in the last 12 months, 19% say they wouldn’t know where to get it (though the pills are available over the counter at pharmacies, and can be purchased online). While insurance plans cover Plan B and similar emergency contraceptives, only 17% of women who used the products say they used insurance to cover them. It’s not clear whether the other 83% didn’t know insurance would cover the medication, didn’t have insurance, or didn’t want a record of the purchase.
What Does All This Mean For Women, For Pregnancy, & For Prenatal Care?
There are concerns that prenatal care may be less accessible if doctors, fearful of being unable to treat emergencies or of facing litigation or criminal charges for doing so, leave their states or leave the obstetric practice altogether.
These fears are being realized already. The latest report reveals that 35% of U.S. counties are already entirely without hospitals, clinics, or providers for maternity care. These “maternity care deserts” affect over 2.3 million women, and these areas accounted for 150k births in 2022 before doctors began a mass exodus. The March Of Dimes adds:
“Our data confirms that women living in maternity care deserts and counties with low access to care have poorer health before pregnancy, receive less prenatal care, and experience higher rates of preterm birth. Our analysis revealed an excess of over 10,000 preterm births among those living in maternity care deserts and limited access counties in 2020-2022. These findings affirm that US systems, policies, and environments are failing moms and babies.”
What Steps Should You Take If You’re Considering A Pregnancy?
Make sure that medical care is accessible for you.
If you will have to travel for care, speak to your doctor in advance about any concerns. One significant problem is what to do if you experience signs of preterm labor. (This is a serious concern in any pregnancy, but it is especially terrifying if you have a longer journey for emergency services.)
Women considered high risk for complications should speak with their doctors about what will happen if those complications arise. (The options will vary by state, and every patient and doctor will have their standards for the best choices, but it’s best if the options are at least considered before an emergency arises.)
While many states have passed legislation affecting emergency contraceptives, those laws range from allowing pharmacists to refuse to dispense the medication to requiring emergency personnel to distribute information about the options. At the time of pulbication, Plan B and similar products are legal in every state and can be purchased via mail if they can’t be found locally.