Planned Parenthood launches app in 27 states to help women get the pill

Planned Parenthood launches app to deliver birth control in 27 states as clinics that refused Trumps ‘gag order’ face funding shortages

  • Planned Parenthood’s app will be offering mail-order birth control pills, patch and ring and pharmacy pick-ups for UTI prescriptions
  • The app is currently available in 27 states and DC, and will expand to all 50 states by the end of 2020 
  • It comes after the Trump administration issued a ‘gag order’ that prevented  family planning clinics offering abortion services from receiving federal funding
  • Planned Parenthood refused to comply and lost $60million in funding

Planned Parenthood has announced that it is launching an app to provide birth control to women without the need to visit a clinic. 

The telemedicine app, called Planned Parenthood Direct, is currently available in 27 states and Washington, DC and plans to expand to all 50 states by the end of 2020.

Women can choose between the pill, the patch and the ring. For those who choose to make an appointment to visit a clinic, the app offers an IUD, an implant or a shot. 

The app will even offer treatment for urinary tract infections.

It comes just two weeks after Planned Parenthood withdrew from the federal program, Title X, after the Trump administration said it would not be providing federal funding to family planning clinics that perform or refer for abortion services.

Planned Parenthood will be offering mail-order birth control pills, patch and ring through an app that is set to be available in all 50 states by the end of 2020. Pictured: A Planned Parenthood clinic in St Louis, Missouri

To use the app, women answer questions about their medical history, responses which are then reviewed by a doctor at Planned Parenthood.

If the request is approved, prescriptions can either be mail-ordered or sent to a local pharmacy for pick-up. 

For mail-order birth control options, costs start at approximately $20 per pack, which is not covered by insurance or Medicaid.

For prescriptions that need to be picked up at a pharmacy, there is a $15 to $25 ‘visit fee’ as well as the cost of the medication.  

Patients can order a minimum three-month supply and request automatic refills for up to a year. 

The organization says this will help women who live in ‘contraception deserts’, meaning they live in an area with little or no access to contraceptive methods. 

‘Planned Parenthood is continually looking for new ways to reach people with the care they need,’ acting president and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson said in a statement. 

‘As politicians across the country try to restrict or block access to critical reproductive and sexual health care, the Planned Parenthood Direct app is just one part of the work we do to ensure that more people can get the care they need.’ 

Last month, Planned Parenthood announced it was withdrawing from Title X after the Trump administration issued a ‘gag order’ on abortions. 

The program, which provides family planning to low-income families, said clinics could not receive federal funding if they provided or referred patients to abortion services.

Planned Parenthood said it wasn’t willing to comply with the rule and lost $60 million in federal funding.

The organization says four million people rely on Title X annually, 41 percent of whom visited a Planned Parenthood clinic. 

‘We will not let this administration deter us from our mission,’ McGill Johnson said in a call with reporters. 

‘We are committed to breaking down barriers by leveraging tech with the most trusted care of our providers. We will fill the gaps of access to healthcare for people regardless of their zip code or income.’ 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk