R Street Institute

R Sheets Competition Policy

Pharmacy Access To Contraception in Arkansas

by Courtney Joslin AND Marc Hyden
March 26, 2019
Download PDF Print

Key Points

Many women have limited access to contraception.
Over half of pregnancies in Arkansas are unintended.
Taxpayers spent over $328 million to cover the medical costs associated with unintended pregnancies in 2010.
Adopting a pharmacy access model would safely provide women increased access to family planning options.

Relative to other states, Arkansas experiences high rates of unintended pregnancy. In fact, in 2010, the latest year data is available, 55 percent of pregnancies in Arkansas were unintended, whereas 45 percent of pregnancies in the United States overall were unplanned (as of 2011). What’s more, in 2015, Arkansas had the highest rate of teen pregnancy at 38 births per 1,000 adolescents (age 15-19).

Image credit: fongbeeredhot

Featured Publications