Reproductive Health Resources for Who?

Story and illustrations by McKenna Christy

Ohio’s statewide abortion fund provides free emergency contraceptives to businesses in Athens.

Health care resources vary by several factors in the United States. The health disparities between rural versus urban areas demonstrate the need for closer and easier access to health-related services.

In general, accessing health care is more difficult in rural areas than in urban ones. The National Rural Health Association reports there are an average of 13.1 physicians per 10,000 people in rural places compared to 31.2 in urban places. When it comes to reproductive health care access, the numbers are even more staggering.

In 2008, according to The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 31 percent of people in rural communities who sought abortions traveled over 100 miles and 43 percent traveled between 50 and 100 miles.

Planned Parenthood is a commonly known resource for reproductive care. The Athens County Planned Parenthood does not provide abortions, and instead, refers people to the center in Columbus. The Lancet Global Health shared in 2020 that globally, 61 percent of unintended pregnancies ended in abortion. This number does not represent the challenges people living in rural areas face in seeking abortion access, and therefore, warrants more pregnancy preventing resources.

One pregnancy-preventing resource is becoming more accessible in Athens: Women Have Options (WHO). WHO, which is Ohio’s statewide abortion fund, provides free emergency contraceptives to two businesses on Court Street — Import House, a local business, and Casa Nueva, a Mexican restaurant — to ensure that people in Athens have another place for resources without worrying about the cost. Emergency contraceptives are taken to prevent pregnancy if someone has unprotected sex, contraceptive failure or if they are sexually assaulted.

“Our mission is essentially to make sure that people who are in and from Ohio have access to abortion care and birth control. And not only make sure that they get that care, like physically get that care, but receive it with dignity and without stigma,” Stephanie Sherwood, the executive director of WHO and an Ohio University alum, says.

WHO plays a crucial role in providing reproductive health care accessibility despite only having three main staff members. Sherwood, their program manager and patient navigator, runs a hotline to help people find appropriate reproductive care. The organization gives reproductive health clinics block grants, which they distribute to patients as needed.

“This happens with folks who just need that last 25 bucks or, they call in and say, ‘I can’t make my appointment today, I can’t afford it.’ And this is the kind of like quickest way they can access that care,” Sherwood says.

One of WHO’s overarching goals is to take away the barriers to reproductive health care access. Alongside the staff members, WHO volunteers are working to make this goal a reality in communities across Ohio. Volunteers in Athens include Claressa Page, who facilitated the emergency contraceptive program and is an employee at Import House. Page was also a volunteer at Planned Parenthood as a clinic escort organizer.

“I first started thinking, ‘Oh, I’ll volunteer like once a month for a couple hours at a clinic,’ and just the experience from being in the clinic parking lot really kind of radicalized me when it came to abortion access,” Page says.

Page explains that there are a variety of brands of emergency contraceptives available at Import House and Casa Nueva. There are two main types of emergency contraceptive pills, which in general need to be taken within five days after unprotected sex. However, the sooner it’s taken, the more effective the pill will be.

The first type of pill has ulipristal acetate, and the only brand with this pill is called Ella. Ella is more effective than Plan B and is only available through a prescription from a doctor. The second type of pill has levonorgestrel, which according to Planned Parenthood, is in brands such as, “Plan B One Step, Take Action, My Way, Option 2, Preventeza, AfterPill, My Choice, Aftera, EContra and others.”

The clinic warns that Ella may not work as effectively if someone weighs 195 pounds or more and levonorgestrel contraceptives may not work if someone weighs 155 pounds or more. But the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) confirms that people can continue taking emergency contraceptives, regardless of how much they weigh and that there are no safety concerns.

WHO finds it best to have emergency contraceptives in businesses that are open late, such as bars or adult stores. Currently, no bars in Athens are a part of the program, but Import House is open until 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday while Casa Nueva closes at 8 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday for those interested in access to their resources.

Many believe that people in rural areas should not have to travel far to receive emergency contraceptives, pay expensive prices, or be prohibited by geographical barriers.

“Rural regions are never adequately resourced as far as with anything, let alone reproductive health care. And the barriers to access are greater in rural areas because if you don’t have a car and you live on Athens County or Meigs County how do you get to the clinic? How do you get emergency contraceptives?” Sherwood says. “And part of our hope was not only to increase access, but to increase knowledge about how to access [resources].”