Florida is the third-most restrictive state for birth control access behind Kansas and Mississippi.
That’s according to a new scorecard published by the Population Reference Bureau, a nonpartisan health research organization. It evaluated states based solely on policies influencing birth control access, excluding abortion restrictions.
“Your access to reproductive health care currently depends on where you live, which is a reality that is really unfortunate,” senior program director at the Population Reference Bureau Cathryn Streifel said.
Restricting birth control
The analysis found that sixteen states and D.C. are the most protective, with California and Washington topping the charts. Eighteen states were middle of the road, with some restrictions and some protections, and another sixteen states, including Florida, were considered to be the most restrictive.
“A main reason [for this] is that the state has not expanded Medicaid…under the [Affordable Care Act], which restrict access for residents with low income. And this is one of the policy indicators that receives the highest weight in our scorecard,” Streifel said.
Expanding Medicaid would extend insurance coverage, including contraceptive care, to low-income adults earning up to 138% of the poverty line.
The state did, however, opt to extend family planning waiver services for eligible women under Medicaid until June of 2030. It was initially set to expire last month.
Streifel said other policies solidified Florida’s ranking in the lowest tier for birth control access.
The state doesn’t require sex education, and schools that offer it must provide an abstinence-only curriculum. Florida also limits access to birth control for most minors, unless they are married or pregnant, according to the policy analysis.
There are also “policy voids” in Florida, or a lack of state regulation on certain contraceptive issues, like whether emergency rooms can prescribe birth control or whether insurance companies are required to cover contraception.
“Florida does have a lack of policy making in three areas, so I think that shows potentially some room for growth and for progress to be made,” Population Reference Bureau senior policy advisor Christine Power said.
Ongoing threats to reproductive care
How states are regulating birth control is more important than ever, as federal protections for contraceptive and abortion access have been under fire.
“This patchwork of policies creates a system where reproductive health care access depends on where you live, as federal protections for contraceptive access crumble,” Power said.
Earlier this month, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act was signed into law, which includes historic federal budget cuts to Medicaid.
READ MORE: Here's how Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill Act' could impact Medicaid for Floridians
In June, the Supreme Court ruled against Planned Parenthood in a federal case, finding that states are allowed to blacklist the women’s clinic from a list of eligible healthcare providers where Medicaid patients can seek care.
For states like Florida, which made this move on July 4, patients “will not be able to use their Medicaid coverage to obtain any preventive services, such as contraceptive care, STI treatment and cancer screenings, at Planned Parenthood clinics,” according to a memo from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Planned Parenthood of Florida's vice president of communications, Miranda Colavito, said they remain committed to improving access to reproductive healthcare in the state despite the new barriers.
“This report confirms what many Floridians already know: access to reproductive healthcare is increasingly out of reach. Birth control isn’t a luxury, it’s essential for building a future and achieving better health outcomes,” Colavito said.
Research shows that states with greater contraceptive access enjoy better maternal and infant health outcomes, savings on public health systems and increased household stability for families.
Policy analysts at the Population Reference Bureau said they will continue to update the scorecard to reflect states’ changing birth control policies.
Gabriella Paul covers the stories of people living paycheck to paycheck in the greater Tampa Bay region for WUSF. She's also a Report for America corps member. Here’s how you can share your story with her.
