One in four Missourians say they've run into obstacles obtaining birth control, according to a new survey of about 1,000 people from the Missouri Foundation for Health.
The survey of Missourians ages 18 to 35 found widespread support for birth control, with 85% of those polled in favor of "access to all methods." But about one-third said they worried about being able to access birth control to prevent pregnancy in the future.
The poll was commissioned through the Missouri Foundation for Health's Right Time Initiative, which advocates for "quality reproductive health education and services" for the state's residents.
"We know that birth control is utilized by the majority of people at some point in time in their life, and that, you know, the poll reflects what we already know to be true: that the majority of Missourians believe in access to birth control," said Michelle Trupiano, executive director of the Beacon Reproductive Health Network, which leads the Right Time initiative.
She said the poll suggests Missourians "want their elected officials to do more to support access and to make [birth control] more accessible."
Beacon is the new name of the Missouri Family Health Council, an organization that for years has distributed millions of dollars in federal funding for birth control made available through Title X. The Title X program has made birth control and family planning services available through public and nonprofit agencies since 1970.
The organization's $8 million annual budget supports birth control and family planning programs at dozens of clinics in Missouri and Oklahoma, Trupiano said.
About one in four respondents to the Right Time survey said cost and insurance have made accessing birth control of their choice difficult.
"Definitely lack of a nearby clinic has been a barrier," she said. "A lack of transportation, the cost or insurance, wait times and lack of time to get to a clinic are all barriers that people experience throughout the state."
Trupiano said she supports a bill before the Missouri legislature that would allow patients to receive a year's worth of birth control at once.
The birth control in the poll refers to hormonal methods such as IUDs, pills and patches, as well as emergency contraception.
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