Not-For-Profit Offers Payment To Drug Users Who Undergo Long-Term Birth Control Procedures

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Sexual Health / STDs;  Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs
Article Date: 22 Dec 2008 - 3:00 PDT

As part of efforts to reduce the number of infants born to people with substance abuse problems, the national not-for-profit organization Project Prevention is offering $300 to drug users and alcoholics if they undergo procedures for long-term birth control, the Arizona Daily Star reports. According to the Daily Star, the money will be dispensed only after individuals provide proof that they have undergone tubal ligations, intrauterine device implantations, long-term contraceptive shots or vasectomies. Natalie McGee, a volunteer in the Tucson, Ariz., area who invited Project Prevention to visit the community, said that the group will cover the cost of the procedures for individuals who cannot afford to pay. "We're rewarding them for taking responsibility for their lives," McGee said. She added that undergoing one of the procedures is "their choice and it's between them and their doctor. There's no coercion." The program is available in 39 states, the Daily Star reports.

However, Mark Clark, president and CEO of CODAC Behavioral Health Services in Tucson, questioned the message Project Prevention is sending to program participants. He said that although there is "nothing wrong with improving access to contraception," it "appears ... they are talking more about sterilization than contraception." Clark added that the "approach encourages a message that recovery is not possible" (Innes, Arizona Daily Star, 12/18). The Tucson Citizen reports that more than 2,800 people have been paid through Project Prevention since it started in 1997 (Gargulinski, Tucson Citizen, 12/17).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

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