June 2020: Power Updates Edition
There are plenty of articles, publications, and stories published every month. In an effort to help you distinguish fact from fiction, save time in your already busy day, and share news you may not have otherwise seen, here are seven stories from the last month we thought you might find interesting:
Birth Control
Association of Pharmacist Prescription With Dispensed Duration of Hormonal Contraception
This study found that women who received contraception from a pharmacist were younger, less educated, and more likely to be uninsured than those who received a prescription from a clinician. Additionally, these women were more likely to receive more than 6 months of birth control at a time, which suggests that pharmacy prescribing is a potential strategy to encourage women to consistently use contraception.
Abortion
COVID‐19 Abortion Bans and Their Implications for Public Health
The authors of article state that while, “it is too soon to measure the public health impact of these new and proposed abortion bans,” that based on prior attempts to limit abortion access they believe that such bans pose a potentially serious barrier to public health. To support their position, they discuss the barriers—such as associated costs and the long distances required to travel to a clinic—that many women faced prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. They note that abortion bans are more likely to impact already marginalized women such as those with low incomes and women of color.
Pregnancy and Birth
Half a Million Fewer Children? The Coming COVID Baby Bust
Using data both from the recent recession (2007-2009) and the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, researchers have concluded that there is likely to be between 300,000-500,000 fewer children born in the next year. They state this is due to increased job loss and economic uncertainty.
This study sought to fill in a gap in research and focused on the role of men and relationships in the decision about whether or not to have children. Of the couples that participated, nearly half reported joint decision making when it came to pregnancy desire. Among couples who did not report joint decision making, there were increased reports of relationship difficulties, such as poor communication between partners.
Sexual and Reproductive Health
New Impact Report Shows Broad Economic Benefits to Medicaid Expansion in Missouri
The Missouri Foundation for Health released this report which projects the impact of Medicaid expansion across the state. It is predicted that an average of 16,330 jobs would be created every year, the state would see an average annual economic output increase of $2.5 billion, and that of the jobs created 63.7% would be outside the metropolitan areas of Kansas City and St. Louis.
It’s Time for Congress to Give All Young People the Sexual Health Resources They Need to Thrive
This article summarizes the current landscape across the country of federal and state laws around sex education. It notes that multiple experts and groups have stated that abstinence-only curricula is wholly inadequate and that more age-appropriate, culturally-sensitive, and medically accurate sex education is needed. The article highlights two pieces of legislation that aim to address achieve this, the Real Education for Healthy Youth Act and Youth Access to Sexual Health Services Act.
Sexual Activity and Contraceptive Use Among Teenagers Aged 15-19 in the United States, 2015-2017
This report analyzed National Survey of Family Growth data from 2015-2017 and found:
- Only 42% of never-married female teenagers and 38% of never-married male teenagers had ever had sexual intercourse.
- The percentage male teens who had ever had sexual intercourse declined by 17% between 2002 (46%) and 2015–2017 (38%).
- By age 15, 21% of females age 15–24 had ever had sexual intercourse.
- By age 17, 53% of females had ever had sexual intercourse.
- By age 20, 79% of females had ever had sexual intercourse.
- By age 15, 20% of males age 15–24 had ever had sexual intercourse.
- By age 17, 48% of males had ever had sexual intercourse.
- By age 20, 77% of males had ever had sexual intercourse.
