The inaugural Youth Reproductive Health Access (YouR HeAlth) Survey results dive into many factors that shape whether young people get the care they need and want. Read the results, learn about the methodology, and more now!
Alongside what should have been the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Power to Decide's AbortionFinder published interactive maps that provide a compelling illustration of the terrible new chapter for abortion access that’s unfolded over the past year. The maps convey the chaos sparked by the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization on June 24, 2022, which rolled back generations of reproductive rights by overturning Roe v. Wade—and now jeopardizes the reproductive rights of generations to come.
Are you interested in using our data for school or work?
We are not able to make the data more broadly available, but we have, in limited instances, made the data available to research partners who intend to analyze it and use it for publication. If you are a researcher interested in using our data for a specific project, please email data@powertodecide.org to request a data use agreement.
Power to Decide is currently leading a 5-year evaluation of SafeSpace, an app-based intervention that uses authentic youth stories to provide information and resources on sexual health as well as mental and emotional health. Funded by the Administration for Children and Families/Family and Youth Services Bureau’s Personal Responsibility Education Program - Innovative Strategies (PREIS), this project is implemented in partnership with MyHealthEd, Inc., Healthy Teen Network, and Child Trends.
Using a randomized controlled trial, this study is evaluating the efficacy of SafeSpace among adolescents at highest risk of pregnancy, with a focus on youth who identify as LGBTQ+, Black, or Latine. SafeSpace is a 10-week curriculum based on Real Talk, which was originally developed by MyHealthEd as part of Power to Decide’s Innovation Next incubator implemented from 2015-2021. For more details about the evaluation, please see Child Trend’s project web page.
Power to Decide, in partnership with Child Trends, the National Association of Community Health Centers, and University of California San Francisco Beyond the Pill Program, has launched a 5-year project to pilot, implement, and evaluate Let’s Talk Birth Control, a clinical decision support intervention for adolescents that consists of a printed contraceptive decision aid and an online provider training to support contraceptive counseling. Funded by The Office of Population Affairs Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, the evaluation will enroll 1,500 sexually active adolescents assigned female at birth, who are ages 15-24 and seeking services at community health centers, prioritizing those in states or counties in the United States with teen birth rates higher than the national average. Using a cluster-level randomized controlled trial, this study will test the effectiveness of Let’s Talk Birth Control on contraceptive use and use of preferred contraceptive method. Patient-centered contraceptive counseling will also be examined as a key implementation outcome.
The rigorous evaluation of ‘Let’s Talk Birth Control’ is supported by the Office of Population Affairs of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $910,000 with 100 percent funded by OPA/OASH/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, OPA/OASH/HHS or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit https://opa.hhs.gov/.
With support from the Arnold Ventures, Power to Decide recently completed an 18-month research initiative with two distinct components that addressed contraceptive access: 1) development of a contraceptive access measurement index that synthesizes existing measures of access; and 2) qualitative data collection with young people addressing their knowledge and preferences related to over-the-counter (OTC) oral contraception. To develop the contraceptive access index, we conducted an environmental scan of existing conceptualizations and measures of access and convened an expert workgroup throughout 2023. The qualitative data collection component of this initiative involved focus groups with young people who face particular barriers to contraceptive access, including Black and Latinx youth, indigenous youth, and youth living in rural areas. Findings from these focus groups are being used to inform the development of materials for young people and pharmacists to support OTC access when it becomes available.
Contraceptive Use (Data from the CDC's National Survey of Family Growth)
Abortion (Data from the Guttmacher Institute)
Births (Data from the National Center for Health Statistics)
