Paris, France | AFP | Free contraception for young women between the ages of 18 and 25 comes into effect today, Saturday, January 1, 2022, in France, to combat a “setback” observed by the authorities and will potentially affect nearly three million women in That country.
The French Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, announced this measure in September, underlining that contraception was “in decline” among young women and pointed out that “the first reason” was “resignation for financial reasons.”
A situation also noted by the spokesperson for the French feminist association “Avant toutes” (Forward all), Louise Delavier.
“Between 18 and 25 years, women are very vulnerable, since they lose many rights compared to when they were minors and they are very fragile economically,” he explained to AFP.
Contraception for minors is already free in France.
According to the Ministry of Health, the young women will have free access to one consultation per year with a doctor or a midwife, to the corresponding biological tests and contraceptives (pills, implants, intrauterine devices, diaphragms and hormonal emergency contraception).
But for Leslie Fonquerne, a sociologist specializing in gender issues, “this measure does not solve at all the imbalance in the contraceptive burden between women and men.”
The European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual and Reproductive Rights (EPF) ranking – which assesses “access to modern, effective and affordable contraception” in Europe – places France in second place in its 2020 Contraception Atlas (behind Belgium).
Poland remains the worst placed European country.
“Although almost 60% of European women of childbearing age use some form of contraception, 35% of pregnancies in Europe are considered unplanned,” notes the Forum.
