Colorado Contraception Program Was a Huge Success - but the GOP Is Scrapping It
Nadja Popovich in New York
Over the past seven years, Colorado has run an experiment to see if it could lower the rate of unintended pregnancies, cut abortions - and save the state government some money, too.The Colorado Family Planning Initiative (CFPI) offered low-income women and teenagers access to low or no-cost contraceptive devices, including IUDs and implants, and trained providers in insertion and counselling techniques. Last year, researchers reported significant drops in the birth rate among teens and young adult women in participating counties. The abortion rate among women between 15 and 19 years old dropped by more than a third; high-risk pregnancies by a fourth.
In July the governor’s office issued a glowing press release, crediting the program with a 40% statewide drop in teen birth rates between 2009 and 2013 - and a 35% drop in abortions.
But, despite the program’s widely reported successes, last Wednesday Colorado’s Republican-controlled senate killed a bill that would sustain and expand CFPI services.
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