How has the economy affected your birth control?

Last night I was talking with a friend of mine who's recently been laid off, and the conversation turned to health care. She's lucky, her job is paying for her health insurance for an additional six months (or until she finds coverage elsewhere), but after that she's on her own. And it got me thinking, how much is the economy affecting all of our choices about birth control and health care?

At Planned Parenthood we definitely see a lot of uninsured patients - that's a part of being a safety net provider, and we even have a great program to help people get on public insurance if they qualify for it. An there have been a lot of stories about peoples' birth control decisions being affected by the economy.

But what about you? Have you made any decisions about your health based on the economy? Seen a doctor less? Switched birth control? Gone for a more long term option? Or is your life staying pretty much the same?

Family Planning and the Economy

This is a guest post from our new intern, Amy.

A story published by the AP a couple of days ago talks about abortion and the economy. The article provides a powerful example of how an economic downturn influences women's health and their decisions about family planning.

It's interesting for us to see at Planned Parenthood, since we're a safety net provider for so many women (meaning basically that we don't turn anyone away, irregardless of financial means or insurance). Right now people are losing their jobs and their health insurance. Luckily this means that more and more women can still turn to Planned Parenthood to help pay for birth control and other reproductive health needs like OBGYN appointments and cancer screenings.

Interestingly, legislators are starting to take an interest in these issues too. The AP article quotes Lori Lamerand, the CEO of Planned Parenthood of Mid and South Michigan, suggesting, "We're seeing a receptivity among our legislators to hear about prevention policies . . . Folks who wouldn't have opened the doors to a Planned Parenthood representative are now willing to talk to us."

Everyone's talking about the economy now, and it's important to remember that when making tough decisions about how to cut costs, birth control shouldn’t fall by the wayside. We can use this opportunity to get legislators on board with funding to help millions of women continue to exercise their right to family planning.