Contraceptive Technology Update – June 1, 2024

Second Anniversary of Dobbs Decision Shows Vastly Different World for Pregnant Americans

The two years following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and women’s right to privacy in their most intimate healthcare decisions have created an entirely different landscape for people capable of pregnancy in America.

Permanent Contraception Skyrocketed in Period Soon After the Supreme Court Decision

New research shows a large increase in the rate of permanent contraception procedures among young women in the period from June 1, 2022, to Sept. 30, 2023 — mostly after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision on June 24, 2022.

Abortion Bans Affect Sexual Assault Victims

New research shows that women who become pregnant from sexual assault are too often blocked from accessing abortion care by state laws that provide no exceptions for rape or by barriers set up in state abortion bans that do include a rape exception.

Emergency Contraception Access in EDs Decreased by 96%

There are far fewer people visiting the emergency department for emergency contraception (EC) now when compared to 2006, before the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of an over-the-counter EC pill, research shows.

Copper IUDs Can Be More Safely Removed by Slowing the Process

Researchers studied how to reduce the risk of breaking the intrauterine device during removal and found that slowing the removal process can help.

Researchers: Studies Cited in Court Cases on Abortion and Mental Health Impact Are Flawed

As the U.S. Supreme Court considers a case involving the abortion medication mifepristone and whether it was properly approved by the Food and Drug Administration, justices will see mention of research about abortion from flawed studies, including some that have been retracted.

Oklahoma Lawmakers Want to Criminalize STIs, a Trend with a Long, Discriminatory History

Oklahoma lawmakers have introduced a bill that will criminalize any “reckless” transmission of sexually transmitted infections, including human papillomavirus, which is so common that the CDC says nearly all sexually active people will get the virus in their lifetime.

Stopping STI Epidemic Requires More Testing, More Public Resources

Syphilis cases continue to climb in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic, and public health programs and clinicians struggle to reverse this trend.