The objective of family planning in the United States is to enable individuals to determine the number and spacing of their children and to select the means by which that target may be achieved. Doing so can bring many benefits including improved maternal health, the prevention of the spread of STDs, and decreased infant and child mortality rates.

Federally Funded Programs

Planned Parenthood

Teenage pregnancies are very involved in today's society and because of this the resources that are around for family planning is vital to the survival of these infants. Federally funded programs such as

Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reve ...

are very important in the

family planning Family planning is the consideration of the number of children a person wishes to have, including the choice to have no children, and the age at which they wish to have them. Things that may play a role on family planning decisions include marita ...

process of adolescents because of the involvement of doctors, gynecologists, or medicine. These family planning practices also help impact the teenager and the infant because of the availability of healthcare and other resources that may otherwise not be offered.

Title X

Title X of the

Public Health Service Act The Public Health Service Act is a United States federal law enacted in 1944. The full act is codified in Title 42 of the United States Code (The Public Health and Welfare), Chapter 6A (Public Health Service). Contents The act clearly establis ...

, is a US government program dedicated to providing family planning services for those in need. But funding for Title X as a percentage of total public funding to family planning client services has steadily declined from 44% of total expenditures in 1980 to 12% in 2006.

Medicaid

Medicaid Medicaid in the United States is a federal and state program that helps with healthcare costs for some people with limited income and resources. Medicaid also offers benefits not normally covered by Medicare, including nursing home care and pers ...

has increased from 20% to 71% in the same time. In 2006, Medicaid contributed $1.3 billion to public family planning. The 1.9 billion spent on publicly funded family planning in 2008 saved an estimated $7 billion in short term Medicaid costs. Such services helped women prevent an estimated 1.94 million unintended pregnancies and 810,000 abortions. More than 3 out of 10 women in the U.S. have an abortion by the time they are 45 years old.

Contraceptive use in family planning

In the United States, contraceptive use saves about $19 billion in direct medical costs each year. Despite the availability of highly effective

contraceptive Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...

s, about half of the pregnancies in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

are unintended. Highly effective contraceptives, such as

IUD An intrauterine device (IUD), also known as intrauterine contraceptive device (IUCD or ICD) or coil, is a small, often T-shaped birth control device that is inserted into the uterus to prevent pregnancy. IUDs are one form of long-acting rever ...

are underused in the United States. Increasing use of highly effective contraceptives could help meet the goal set forward in Healthy People 2020 to decrease unintended pregnancy by 10%. Cost to the user is one factor preventing many US women from using more effective contraceptives. Making contraceptives available without a copay increases use of highly effective methods, reduces unintended pregnancies, and may be instrumental in achieving the Healthy People 2020 goal.

References

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External links

South Texas Family Planning
Birth control in the United States Reproduction in the United States