In all three states, individuals who had experienced financial instability due to being out of work, having fallen behind on key payments, or because of a job reduction or loss due to COVID-19 had increased odds of experiencing delays in sexual and reproductive health care.
“Importantly, our findings highlight only a small piece of the larger picture of how individuals’ reproductive autonomy was impeded due to the pandemic,” concluded the investigators. “Further research regarding the extent to which these COVID-19-related delays resulted in subsequent negative consequences for individualssuch as having to rely on less preferred methods of contraception, forego contraception all together, and/or experience unwanted pregnanciesis warranted.”
“Although the researchers demonstrated COVID-19-related delays in access to sexual and reproductive health care, linked to financial instability, the findings revealed no association between health insurance coverage and COVID-19-related access delays,” says Journal of Women’s Health Editor-in-Chief Susan G. Kornstein, MD, Executive Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women’s Health, Richmond, VA.
Source: Eurekalert
