The Ohio Prevention First Act is a signature piece of legislation that focuses on the prevention of unintended pregnancies through comprehensive sex education for teens, including abstinence, and affordable, accessible birth control.
Why Prevention First?
- In the United States, about half of all pregnancies are unintended.
- 98% of women will, at some point in their lives, use birth control.
- In Ohio, 1.3 million women are in need of family planning services and 666,670 women are in need of state funded family planning services.
- Ohio ranks 48th in the country for its laws and policies relating to the availability of and public funding for contraceptives.
- In 2006, nearly 27,000 Ohio girls between the ages of 10 and 19 became pregnant.
- 89% of Ohio voters– both Republicans and Democrats– support women having access to contraception. This majority includes 83% of self-identified pro-life voters.
- Further, 64% agreed that increasing access to contraception is more effective in reducing the number of abortions than enacting more restrictive abortion laws.
The Ohio Prevention First Act has been re-introduced in the 129th General Assembly and includes the following provisions:
- If a school district offers any sexual health education programming, then it must be comprehensive, age-appropriate, medically-accurate, and abstinence-inclusive in order to prevent unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS.
- Ensure that sexual assault victims have access to emergency contraception as well as testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases in all hospital emergency rooms.
- Create a state teen pregnancy prevention task force that would recommend medically accurate and scientifically proven effective programs for reducing Ohio’s teen pregnancy rate.
- Require a pharmacy to dispense any prescribed drug, device or over-the-counter medication in stock without delay or judgment.
- Require the Ohio Department of Health to create materials to educate medical professionals and the general public about emergency contraception and to make them available on their website.
- Forbid a health insurance company from limiting or excluding coverage for FDA-approved prescription contraception if the policy covers other prescription drugs or devices.
Senator Capri Cafaro (D-Hubbard) and Representative Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) are the primary sponsors of the Ohio Prevention First Act – SB 190 and HB 281, respectively.
How can you support these bills? Click here!
