SENATE MEMORIAL 58

52nd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2016

INTRODUCED BY

Cisco McSorley

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE CREATION OF A WORKING GROUP TO STUDY STRATEGIES FOR THE EXPANDED PROVISION OF LONG-ACTING REVERSIBLE CONTRACEPTIVES AND RELATED SERVICES.

     WHEREAS, by helping women avert unintended pregnancies and other adverse reproductive health outcomes, publicly funded family planning services provided by health centers in New Mexico helped save the federal and state governments one hundred twenty-one million five hundred thousand dollars ($121,500,000) in 2010; and

     WHEREAS, in 2013, one hundred forty-seven thousand five hundred ninety New Mexico women aged thirteen to forty-four were in need of publicly funded family planning services; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico had the highest teen pregnancy rate in the nation in 2010 and the fourth-highest teen birth rate in the nation in 2014; and

     WHEREAS, the American academy of pediatrics has recommended that the first-line contraceptive choice for adolescents who choose not to be abstinent is a long-acting reversible contraceptive, which is an intrauterine device or a subdermal implant; and

     WHEREAS, the American college of obstetricians and gynecologists committee on adolescent healthcare concluded in 2012 that, when choosing contraceptive methods, adolescents should be encouraged to consider long-acting reversible contraceptive methods; and

     WHEREAS, the committee also concluded that intrauterine devices and the contraceptive implant were the best reversible contraceptive methods for preventing unintended pregnancies; and

     WHEREAS, information and access to long-acting reversible contraceptives are part of comprehensive reproductive health care, including counseling pertaining to abstinence, contraception and sexually transmitted infections and diseases; and

     WHEREAS, many national and state medical and policy agencies have identified costs and myths about the safety of next-generation intrauterine devices and implants as deterrents to the provision of long-acting reversible contraceptives; and

     WHEREAS, publicly funded family planning services allow New Mexico residents to start or expand families when it makes sense for those families; and

     WHEREAS, birth into poverty is the strongest determinant of whether young people will later live in poverty; and

     WHEREAS, the economic futures of young people are stronger when they are able to decide when to start or expand their families; and

     WHEREAS, questions have been raised about whether the federal government has made sufficient information on contraception options available to women; and

     WHEREAS, it is critical that women of all ages make informed decisions about contraception and have access to the information and contraceptive options that are best for them; and

     WHEREAS, expansion of access to long-acting reversible contraceptives in other states, including Colorado, Iowa and Missouri, has proven to be effective in the reduction of unintended pregnancy rates and the reduction of abortions; and

     WHEREAS, the expansion of access to long-acting reversible contraceptives has not resulted in increased rates of sexually transmitted infections or reported increases in sexual activity; and

     WHEREAS, a department of health report to the legislative finance committee in May 2015 identified long-term reversible contraceptives as the most effective form of reversible birth control for young adults;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the medical assistance division of the human services department and the department of health be requested to convene a working group to study strategies for expanded provision of long-acting reversible contraceptives and related services; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group be composed of representatives of the following: the American college of obstetricians and gynecologists; the American college of nurse-midwives; the New Mexico hospital association; the New Mexico pediatric society; the New Mexico alliance for school-based health care; the university of New Mexico division of adolescent medicine; the New Mexico primary care association; members of managed care organizations; the superintendent of insurance or the superintendent's designee; the American civil liberties union; planned parenthood of New Mexico; young women united; strong families New Mexico; the southwest women's law center; the New Mexico graduation reality and dual-role skills program; members of youth organizations; and others working on long-acting reversible contraceptive issues; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group be requested to identify existing barriers to the provision of long-acting reversible contraceptives and strategies to remove those barriers; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group be requested to make recommendations for changes to existing policies, programs and regulatory provisions to increase the availability of long-term reversible contraceptives to New Mexico adolescents; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group be requested to make recommendations to the human services department and the department of health as needed and to report to the legislative health and human services committee by August 2016; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the secretary of human services and the secretary of health.

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