European Contraception Atlas 2020

• Access to modern, effective and affordable contraception remains a European challenge
• 7 countries introduced policies related to supplies and counselling and 4 countries improved online resources
• Belgium edges ahead of France, taking the lead for the first time in four years
• Poland remains at the bottom of the Atlas for being the only European country to increase restrictions to contraception in the past four years

European Parliament, Brussels, 12 November 2020

On 12 November 2020, MEPs for SRR co-chair MEP Sophie in ‘t Veld and MEP Terry Reintke co-hosted the launch of the fourth annual edition of the European Contraception Policy Atlas - a map that scores 46 countries throughout geographical Europe on access to modern contraception.

Since its debut in 2017, the Contraception Policy Atlas has become an acknowledged tool of reference for information on contraception in Europe and has also contributed to legislative changes in 9 countries as well as improved online resources in a handful of countries.

The Atlas stratifies countries by traffic light colours according to their access to contraceptive supplies, family planning counselling and online information. The red category indicates extremely poor performance and has been attributed to 8 countries this year, compared with 12 last year. Poland proved unable to relinquish its bottom place and specially created dark red category this year, following its policy change in 2019 to necessitate prescriptions for emergency contraception.

2020 highlights include policy changes to break down financial barriers to contraception in Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, Iceland, the Netherlands, North Macedonia and Spain, particularly for young people and marginalised or vulnerable groups.

This year’s atlas reveals yet another uneven picture across Europe and demonstrates that inequitable reimbursement schemes and failure of governments to provide accessible and accurate information impedes access to the latest and widest choice of contraception.

“Although nearly 60% of European women of child-bearing age use a form of contraception[1], 35% of pregnancies in Europe are considered as unplanned[2]. There remains a disconnect between the preferred method of contraception for certain categories of women, their financial ability to access these methods and public authorities’ funding priorities. LARCs often represent a greater one-time cost which makes them less accessible to certain women, but they have higher satisfaction rates and research shows that for every dollar the public sector spends on LARCs, five dollars is saved in unintended pregnancy costs”, said Neil Datta, EPF Secretary.

“It’s important that we don’t see European countries regress on these matters, like Poland. Governments must take the cost-effective effort to provide accessible, reliable and authoritative online information in order to empower women to make informed decisions about the method most appropriate for them. This is all the more important during these times of Covid-19, when access to contraception is under pressure across Europe”, said MEP Sophie in ‘t Veld.

“Having access to affordable and accessible contraception is a right that has been fought for over centuries and the battle is not yet won. The pandemic has illuminated existing gaps and shortcomings in healthcare services, with some governments shifting resources away from basic sexual and reproductive services, others deliberately manipulating the situation to pass through laws further restricting these fundamental rights. All countries must ensure and facilitate access to contraception also during challenging crisis situations”, said MEP Terry Reintke.

Highlights

• EU countries Czech Republic, Lithuania, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland among the ten worst performing states.
• Better access to contraception does not negatively influence fertility rates - the top 10 countries have a higher fertility rate than the bottom 10 countries.

About the Atlas

Now in its fourth year, the Atlas has been produced by the European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual & Reproductive Rights (EPF) while experts in sexual and reproductive health and rights designed the methodology. 

EPF benefitted from the financial support of MSD to undertake original and independent research which is presented in the Atlas. EPF is grateful to numerous expert national organisations and individuals who contributed to gathering the data presented in the Atlas. The scope and content of the European Contraception Atlas is the sole responsibility of EPF.

[1] https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/files/documents/2020/Jan/un_2019_contraceptiveusebymethod_databooklet.pdf

[2] https://www.guttmacher.org/news-release/2020/new-estimates-show-worldwide-decrease-unintended-pregnancies