![Contraception: support for young girls under 15](https://img.passeportsante.net/1000x526/2019-10-02/i91947-contraception.jpeg)
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
The government wants the cost of contraception for girls under 15 to be fully covered. So far, only young women over 15 have received full reimbursement.
Use of emergency contraception
Girls under 15 are not, for the moment, reimbursed for the costs of contraceptives, but also for medical consultations and biological examinations. A new measure in the draft Social Security financing bill for 2020 provides for full reimbursement of contraceptive costs.
Until now, young women have found themselves in a situation of fragility, forcing them to have recourse to emergency contraception and in certain cases to voluntary termination of pregnancy (abortion). The draft bill notes that around 1,000 young girls aged 12 to 14 are pregnant in France each year. In addition, 770 of these pregnancies end in abortion.
A drop in abortion rate among young, older women
The use of abortion has dropped considerably among young women aged 15 to 17 between 2012 and 2018. According to the Drees (Directorate of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics), the number of abortions fell from 9.5 to 6 per 1,000 young women during this period.
While 7 babies had a 13-year-old mother and 77 newborns, a 14-year-old mother in 2018, the objective of free contraception for minors is to reduce the number of early pregnancies but also of abortions.
Stephanie Haerts
Read also: Contraception and reimbursements