Teen pregnancies drop 20 percent in ZIP codes near clinics

By increasing access to longterm birth control such as intrauterine devices, Colorado has reduced teen pregnancies by about 20 percent in ZIP codes near clinics that receive federal funding, a new report finds.

Teen births have dropped through a state program that helped clinics cover the costs of expensive contraceptives such as IUDs, making them more accessible to low-income women, according to the report by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

But funding for those socalled Title X clinics could be at risk as rule changes to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ family planning program will place restrictions on those that also provide abortion services, according to officials and experts.

“The risk there is that those funds were going to be providing contraceptives or preventive care,” said Andrea Kelly, a coauthor of the study and Ph.D. student at Texas A&M University. “Now, if they are going away … it’s even harder to provide those services.”

Under the changes, clinics that receive federal Title X funding will be prohibited from referring patients for abortions and from housing family planning services in the same physical location as abortion providers.

Federal money already cannot go toward abortions, but funding could drop if clinics no longer qualify or leave the program because of the changes. Colorado’s health department receives about $3.8 million a year from the Title X program.

Officials, including Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, have said the changes to the Title X program could result in jumps in teen births, unintended pregnancies and abortions. Multiple states, including Colorado, are seeking to stop the changes via lawsuits.

The new report found that birth rates dropped significantly in ZIP codes within 7 miles of Title X clinics in Colorado, which the report says is the result of more teenagers and women gaining access to longterm, reversible contraceptives. The report looked at data between 2008 and 2015.

Jody Camp, family planning section manager for the state health department, called the study “fair.” She said Colorado has seen abortions and teen pregnancies drop as a result of the department expanding its contraceptive program.

Statewide, the birth rate for women between ages 15 and 19 dropped 59 percent during an eight-year period that ended in 2017, according to the most recent data available from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

Long-term birth control measures, such as IUDs, are more effective than other methods, including condoms and pills, according to the health department.

But the contraceptives are more expensive. An IUD can cost clinics as much as $700, compared with a pack of birthcontrol pills that can be bought for a penny, Camp said.

The department helps clinics cover the cost because the facilities offer the contraceptives to patients on a sliding-fee scale that is based on how much an individual can pay, she said.

“A lot of Colorado women chose them,” she said of longterm birth control. “And a lot of young Colorado women chose them.”