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Articles on Birth control

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The progestin-only pill Opill could be available in early 2024. Kwangmoozaa/iStock via Getty Images

FDA approves first daily over-the-counter birth control pill, Opill – a pharmacist and public health expert explain this new era in contraception

With the approval of the first over-the-counter oral contraceptive, pharmacists stand to play an ever-increasing role in helping expand access to reproductive health care in the post-Roe era.
Conversations between patients and their doctors about permanent birth control procedures can at times be fraught and influenced by long-standing stigmas. Courtney Hale/E+ via Getty Images

What is voluntary sterilization? A health communication expert unpacks how a legacy of forced sterilization shapes doctor-patient conversations today

The term voluntary sterilization, referring to the choice to receive permanent birth control, arose as a contrast to the involuntary, or forced, sterilization that stems from the eugenics movement.
The over-the-counter birth control pill will not require medical examinations or prescriptions prior to purchase. Sergey Mironov/Moment via Getty Images

With over-the-counter birth control pills likely to be approved, pharmacists and pharmacies could play an ever-increasing role in reproductive health care

Some states already allow pharmacists to provide birth control to patients with a prescription. But FDA approval of an over-the-counter birth control pill could greatly expand access.
Primary care providers comprise nearly a third of the U.S. clinician workforce. Tetra Images/via Getty Images

How primary care is poised to support reproductive health and abortion in the post-Roe era

Primary care doctors have long played an important role in providing birth control. Now, with the fall of Roe, they could help fill a critical need for comprehensive family planning services.
There’s an interesting evolutionary benefit for some women if the consequences of casual sex are high. Albin Lohr-Jones/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images

What really drives anti-abortion beliefs? Research suggests it’s a matter of sexual strategies

Some reasons people oppose abortion seem to be at odds with other positions they hold. Evolutionary social science points to a surprising motivation for anti-abortion attitudes.
Research shows that short spacing between childbirth and another pregnancy comes with heightened health risks. Aleksandr Kirillov/EyeEm via Getty Images

A growing number of women give birth at Catholic hospitals, where they do not receive the same reproductive health options – including birth control – provided at other hospitals

Many people do not realize they are delivering at a Catholic hospital, and others may not have a choice. But where one receives care has a profound impact on the birth control options they’re offered.
Protestant Christians have been debating – and more often than not, supporting – modern contraceptives since they first appeared. Bettmann/Bettman via Getty Images

Protestants and the pill: How US Christians helped make birth control mainstream

Conservative Christians have cheered restrictions on some birth control. But many decades ago, Christian leaders’ support helped contraceptives become acceptable in the first place.
Reproductive rights are at the center of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case before the Supreme Court. Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Yes, it’s easier to get birth control than it was in the 1970s – but women still need abortion care

The Supreme Court is considering a case that could restrict abortions. One argument is that birth control eliminates the need for abortion. But contraception doesn’t offer an easy fix.

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