The results of a recent study revealed that gonorrhea case rates nearly doubled in Iowa after some publicly funded family planning health centers were closed due to state officials’ efforts to ban abortions. Rates of other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) also increased significantly.1
In 2016 — the year before the clinic closure — the rate was 83 gonorrhea cases per 100,000 population. In 2018, the year after the clinic closure, the gonorrhea rate shot up to 153.7 cases per 100,000 population.
Counties where clinics closed recorded an even greater increase in gonorrhea cases between 2016 and 2018, researchers found. Statewide chlamydia cases also increased from 414.6 cases per 100,000 population in 2016 to 466.3 cases per 100,000 in 2018.
Because of the the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision, an estimated 36 million people will lose access to abortion services. Their other sexual and reproductive health care needs also may be affected, as what happened in Iowa is replicated in the new abortion-ban states.
REFERENCE
- Srinivas M, Wong NS, Wallace R, et al. Sexually transmitted infection rates and closure of family planning clinics because of abortion restrictions in Iowa. JAMA Netw Open 2022;5:e2239063.
The results of a recent study revealed that gonorrhea case rates nearly doubled in Iowa after some publicly funded family planning health centers were closed due to state officials’ efforts to ban abortions. Rates of other STIs also increased significantly.
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