From next year, young women under 25 in France will be offered free contraception, the country’s health minister announced recently. All women under the age of 25 will not have to pay for medical appointments, medicines, tests, or any other procedure related to birth control. ‘This will cover hormone contraception, biological tests along with that, the prescription of contraception, and all related medical services,’ Olivier Véran said.
The decision was made after the government noticed a steep decline in the use of contraception among certain age groups, and many locals acknowledged the sole reason was financial. ‘There is a decline in the use of contraception among a certain number of young women for relatively simple reasons: it is too costly. It is unacceptable that women cannot protect themselves, cannot obtain contraception if they desire it, because they cannot afford it,’ Veran said.
Furthermore, the government chose the age cap to be 25 because from the age of 25 young people are no longer covered by their parents’ complementary health insurance, which is referred to as mutuelle in France. The experts believe that because of that, women were opting out of contraception because it was becoming more expensive for them. As a result of this new program, the French government’s health system, also known as Assurance Maladie, will spend nearly €21m per year.
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Over 1,000 girls aged between 12 and 14 have conceived children and over 770 have chosen to have an abortion last year. Women younger than 15 have been eligible for free contraception since 2013. Since August 2020, it was extended to under-15s. The country has seen a decline in abortions following the implementation of this program. With this new initiative, the government hopes to help women under 25 practice safe sex without compromising their health.
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