One in 5 women sought an abortion in the last decade, and, of the 20% of women who tried to access an abortion, a third of them faced challenges like cost and lack of insurance, according to a recent survey.
Fourteen percent of those women could not obtain an abortion because of the cost or legal restrictions.
The findings are part of reproductive telehealth and online medication platform Wisp's inaugural survey.
Wisp, a sexual and reproductive telehealth provider, surveyed 1,500 women ages 18-45 and broke down the results by age group to identify trends across generations. The survey sought to understand Generation Z women’s perceptions of reproductive healthcare after the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision and before the 2024 presidential election.
The survey asked women about their use of and access to contraception, including emergency contraception. It also asked women whether they sought abortion care in the last decade.
The survey found that oral birth control medication and condoms are the most widely used forms of contraception (40% and 39%, respectively). Cycle tracking followed at 22% and intrauterine devices (IUDs) ranked after at 17%. One in 5 women said that, overall, they have struggled to access contraception.
Another 14% of women aged 18-45 faced barriers to accessing emergency contraception, like Plan B, in the last five years. Gen Z struggled the most to access emergency contraception, the study said.
Wisp is an online platform that prescribes medication for a range of women’s health needs like oral contraception, yeast infections, fertility, emergency contraception and some medication abortion. Women can pick up their prescriptions at the pharmacy on the same day as their request, following approval by a provider. Wisp also ships medications in discreet packaging.
The State of Reproductive Healthcare survey asked women to reflect on their reproductive healthcare decisions in the last five to 10 years. Jillian Lopiano, M.D., Wisp's chief health officer, said the survey likely took a retrospective view to understand what reproductive healthcare needs women had while they still retained a national right to abortion.
“If we know retrospectively what was going on, we can sort of predict the need that won't be met in the current landscape, and we can also extrapolate the kind of problems that that's going to cause, which we are now starting to see,” Lopiano explained.
Roe v. Wade has been overturned for nearly two and a half years, and 28 states have restricted access to abortion. Wisp hopes to use the survey results to identify issues that may grow in the wake of the decision.
The survey found that in the West, Midwest and Northeast of the country, 40% of women feel negative about the state of reproductive healthcare. The findings show that in most of the country, more women feel more negative than positive about their ability to access care. Women in the South had the highest rate of positive feelings (31%), but more women (35%) had negative feelings.
Gen Z women had the most negative outlook on the state of reproductive healthcare.
“Since 2020, 43% of patients have reported experiencing longer wait times for appointments and 17% of patients have had to wait one to three months for their latest doctor's appointment,” Wisp’s website says. “When you’re dealing with sexual and reproductive concerns, you can’t afford to wait.”
The survey found that 19% of Gen Z women, which the study defined as ages 18-24, struggled to access emergency contraception, which was the most of any age group.
Lopiano noted that combating misinformation about contraception is an ongoing challenge. Some groups are pushing the idea that oral contraception is risky or dangerous, and that could turn patients against seeking it. This is a particular problem because oral contraception is one of the most accessible forms of contraception, Lopiano noted, and patients can obtain it through telemedicine platforms like Wisp and receive it same-day, whereas other forms of contraception like IUDs require an in-person procedure.
“To have to battle misinformation for such a good method of contraception and also medical treatment for menstrual abnormalities, that's a tough trend that I am definitely struggling with as a provider right now,” Lopiano said.