Indiana ranks 49th in preventing unintended pregnancy
A new national report places Indiana near the bottom of a survey of states’ efforts to help women avoid unintended pregnancy. Indiana ranked 49th in service availability, 42nd in laws and policies and 35th in public funding for a 49th overall placement.
“Half of all pregnancies are unintended, and half of those end in abortion,” said Betty Cockrum, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Indiana. “Hoosiers need better sex education and better access to birth control – the two main factors that can bring our state out of our near last-place ranking in this survey.”
Cockrum said the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) continuous delays on making emergency contraception available over-the-counter further hurt Hoosier women’s attempts to prevent unintended pregnancy.
However, in Indiana the greatest public attention continues to focus on burdening women seeking abortions rather than helping them well before they need an abortion. “As we know, and the study indicates, states can play a major role in helping women to avoid unintended pregnancy – particularly low-income women,” said Cockrum.
“Hoosiers should question their policy makers’ lack of attention to means of prevention, such as better sex education and access to contraceptives.”
The Guttmacher Institute report “Contraception Counts: Ranking State Efforts” is available online in pdf form:
U.S. data | Indiana data
Read a related editorial from the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette.
Planned Parenthood of Indiana is the Hoosier state leader in reproductive health. We provide affordable health care and education services to more than 130,000 women and men annually around the state. Care includes Pap tests for cervical cancer, affordable birth control in many forms, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, and educational services for parents, teens and professionals.
