“It’s super important and it’s too good”, when she learns that the morning-after pill is coming free for all women, Camille sits up on the bench she is sitting on. This midwife accompanies adults who until now had to pay for an emergency contraceptive pill without a prescription.
The Minister of Health François Braun announced, Tuesday, September 20 in a daily interview 20 minutes, that this measure would be included in the 2023 social security financing bill, presented to the Council of Ministers on Monday 26 September. Until now the morning after pill was free without a prescription only for minors. Adults sometimes had to pay up to 20 euros to get it.
This measure is therefore “good news for progress for rights” Women for Family Planning. Camille agrees. It is also necessary for those “who think that paying 20 euros for a morning after pill is useless, so who don’t”underlines the midwife. “Even if it is not necessarily contraception to have the morning after pill, it is very important to be able to obtain it easily and not to wait“, resumes Camille.
Do not wait because the Minister of Health François Braun reminds us of this in his interview with 20 minutes, the effectiveness is maximum within 24 hours following the report at risk. Sarah therefore sees this measure as an additional freedom “to have a safe sex life”.
This free access puts all women on an equal footing, she says. “We know that precariousness affects many women. It can go as far as sanitary protection for menstruation”, emphasizes Sarah. Indeed, according to a study published in May 2021, in France, one in five women has already been confronted with menstrual precariousness. Which means, according to the association Rules Elementary, that they had “difficulties in obtaining essential periodic protection and in living with dignity [leurs] rules”.
“I guess that’s something that can also apply to the morning after pill, contraception in generalcontinues Sarah. So that’s a good thing for me.”
Family Planning just issues a reservation regarding anonymity for adults. The association asks in particular that adults do not have to present a Vitale card. This remains a barrier for some women.