Giving Compass' Take:
- Leah Rodriguez discusses how France is providing free contraception due to declining contraceptive use among women under 25 as a result of financial barriers.
- How can funders work towards making birth control free across the world?
- Read more about free birth control.
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France is the latest country in the European Union to offer free contraception.
Women under the age of 25 will be eligible to receive access to free birth control in the country starting on Jan. 1, 2022, the government announced on Thursday, according to the New York Times. The new measure aims to help ease the financial burden of preventing pregnancy.
The government is allocating about 21 million euros (almost $25 million) to cover several methods of contraception including IUDs, birth control pills, and contraceptive implants, as well as medical appointments, tests, or other medical procedures related to procuring birth control.
“It is unbearable that young women cannot protect themselves, cannot have contraception if they choose to do so because it is too expensive for them,” Olivier Véran, the French health minister, said on the news program Les 4 vérités.
The move is in response to the government noticing a decline in the use of contraceptives among a certain group of young women, Véran explained. Many young women who are no longer covered under their parents’ health care plan end up giving up contraception because of the expense. The government decided that at 25 years old, women tend to have more autonomy due to economic situation, social life, and income, he added.
Read the full article about free contraception in France by Leah Rodriguez at Global Citizen.