Adolescent Emergency Contraception Initiative
Mission
Advocates for Youth works to raise awareness of emergency contraception (EC) among adolescents and to educate providers, the media, and policy makers about the need for youth-friendly services.
Emergency contraception, also known as the morning after pill or Plan B®, could avert about 50 percent of pregnancies and consequent abortions among U.S. teens each year. Unfortunately, less than one-fourth of teenage women know that taking EC after unprotected intercourse can prevent pregnancy. Once informed about EC, most teens say they would use it in an emergency.
Strategies
- Collaborating with State-Based Coalitions—Advocates for Youth works intensively each year with statewide, teen pregnancy prevention coalitions to increase youth's awareness of and access to EC. Advocates for Youth offers resources, technical assistance, networking, and training to selected state coalitions.
- Assisting Health Care Providers, Sex Educators, and Other Youth-Serving Professionals—The Adolescent Emergency Contraception Clearinghouse analyzes the latest research on EC and adolescents; develops case studies on model EC programs; provides technical assistance on EC; offers EC lesson plans; conducts public education campaigns, including public service announcements, radio tours, and press outreach; monitors coverage of EC in teen-focused magazines; and provides issue briefs and other educational materials on EC.
- Offering Education and Outreach to Policy Makers and the Entertainment Industry—Advocates for Youth tracks EC-related legislation; provides outreach and education to legislators and other policy makers; and, through the Media Project, works with the entertainment industry, encouraging depictions of responsible sexual behavior, including EC use, in television programming.
- Mobilizing and Educating Youth—Using the Internet, Advocates for Youth encourages young people to take an active role in advocating at local, state, and national levels for their right to receive EC. www.advocatesforyouth.org; www.youthresource.com; www.mysistahs.org; and www.ambientejoven.org offer peer education and materials written by youth for youth on EC and other sexual health issues.
- Managing the South Carolina Emergency Contraception Initiative— Advocates is currently piloting a multi-year initiative to increase awareness of, demand for, and access to emergency contraception (EC) among young women ages 16 to 24 in Charleston, Columbia, Greenville, and Spartanburg, South Carolina and is using lessons learned to adopt the model for use in other states.
Resources
- Training and Workshops—Advocates for Youth's workshops focus on strategies for improving access to EC for teens; youth-friendly clinical practices; outreach to diverse ethnic teenage populations; involving males in sexual health programs; minor consent and confidentiality laws; linking youth-serving organizations and family planning clinics; managing controversy; model programs for providing EC to teens; effective collaboration between health care providers and pharmacists; building youth-adult partnerships; and statistics and trends related to teens' EC use.
- Publications—Advocates for Youth offers fact sheets, issue briefs, lesson plans, and teen pamphlets related to EC.
Contact
Adolescent Emergency Contraception Initiative
P: 202.419.3420
F: 202.419.1448
Web: www.advocatesforyouth.org
2000 M Street NW, Suite 750
Washington, DC 20036 USA
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