Government push on LARCs for teenagers

Ministers want to double the number of young women using contraceptive jabs and implants to cut down on abortions, the Sunday Times reports.

Under reforms, young women considered at risk of unplanned pregnancies will be advised by their GPs to use these methods of contraception, which can prevent pregnancy for three years.

In addition, abortion clinics will be required to offer immediate contraceptive advice to women after their pregnancies have been terminated. Those who decline to take the advice will be recalled and asked to consider having implants or injections, The Sunday Times claims.

Dawn Primarolo, the public health minister, said she was concerned that almost a third of terminations were repeat abortions and that there was a “spike” in unplanned pregnancies among girls aged 16-18. A health department spokesman said:

“We know that almost a third of abortions in England and Wales are repeat abortions. This makes it even more important that these women are given timely advice on the full range of contraceptive choices available. Currently, such advice can be limited only to a supply of condoms or the pill. Larcs have virtually no failure and are therefore particularly suitable for women with a high risk of unintended pregnancy.”

Ministers want to double the number using the so-called Long Acting Reversible Contraceptives (Larcs) after being told by regulators that they could save around £100m a year if 15% of women used the methods, The Sunday Times reports. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence estimated the move would cut unplanned pregnancies by 73,000 a year. In total, 20,289 abortions were carried out last year on girls under 18.

Currently, only around 7% of women have contraceptive jabs or implants, which are more widely used in America.

But the policy of offering LARCs to teenagers is likely to prove controversial. PA reports that, following a Freedom of Information (FoI) request by the Sunday Telegraph, it emerged that a number of local authorities had received letters from the government encouraging them to get teenage girls to have the injections or implants. Local authorities with particularly high rates of teenage pregnancy, including Bristol, Manchester and Nottingham, were told it was “essential” to increase the uptake of LARC amongst young girls.

However, responding to reports that girls as young as 13 will be made to take long-acting reversible contraception (LARC), a spokeswoman insisted that the government’s primary concern was only to ensure young people had access to effective birth control:

“Thirteen-year-old girls will not be forced to have a contraceptive injection,” she said. “The vast majority of 13-year-olds are not sexually active. Our teenage pregnancy strategy is about providing effective sex and relationships education to ensure young people have the skills to delay sex until they are ready, for parents to talk to their children about sex and relationships and access to effective contraception methods for those that are sexually active.”

Teenagers to receive jabs to cut abortions. The Sunday Times, 16 November 2008

‘No compulsory contraception for teenage girls, says government’. PA, 16 November 2008