South Carolina Nonprofit Pioneers a New Approach to Birth Control Access

COLUMBIA, S.C., Sept. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- New Morning, a leading nonprofit advocating for reproductive healthcare and birth control access, is pleased to announce that its signature program Choose Well has provided contraceptive services to more than 300,000 women through its healthcare partners. Currently the largest state-based birth control access program in the country, Choose Well estimates that at least 65,000 unintended pregnancies and 22,000 abortions have been prevented, and that more than $550 million has been saved in maternal and birth-related gross costs in the state.

In its fifth year, the Choose Well program is unmatched in its 360-degree approach to reproductive healthcare. It provides eight FDA-approved birth control methods for free or low- cost through a network of 119 clinical sites across the state.  It has enabled many community health centers, college health centers and hospitals to offer high-quality birth control services for the first time, meaning more women, including low-income and uninsured women, can access services. Today, every woman in South Carolina has an equal opportunity to obtain family planning counseling and whatever birth control method she chooses, no matter where she lives or her economic status.

"World Contraception Day is the perfect time to mark this important milestone for our organization," said Bonnie Kapp, president and CEO of New Morning. "Access to birth control is directly tied to better health outcomes for our state's women, children and families. We're thrilled we've been able to help one in four women access high-quality family planning services. Women's access to birth control has never been more important and urgent than it is today."

Choose Well trainings have significantly increased the family planning knowledge and skills of more than 2,800 staff at clinics, and healthcare professionals can now access free, online continuing education modules to stay up to date on the latest best practice recommendations. The program's Family Planning Health Worker Certificate program is developing a team of contraceptive peer-to-peer trainers and mentors within the state. And community health centers now are not only offering birth control services but are exemplifying the highest practice standards.

"Choose Well has knocked down so many barriers to better care," said Anthony Poole, chief clinical and quality officer of a Choose Well partner clinic. "It has normalized conversations about reproductive health across all levels of our health center."

About New Morning
Founded in 2002 with private funding, New Morning is a nonprofit organization that has spent its two decades advocating for equitable reproductive education and access to birth control throughout South Carolina. New Morning is leading the Southeast's largest statewide birth control access program called Choose Well. For more information, visit newmorning.org. 

About World Contraception Day
World Contraception Day is an annual global campaign to improve awareness of modern contraception and to enable young people to make informed choices on their sexual and reproductive health.

SOURCE New Morning