“Texas has the fifth highest rate of teen pregnancy and the highest rate of repeat teen pregnancy in the United States, and we think these barriers are a big contributor to this,” Mr. Goff said in an interview.
Senior author, Maria C. Monge, MD, of the university, added in a press release that comprehensive sex education and contraception services also are not readily available to all adolescents across the state, which likely increases the use of emergency contraception.
In the United States, levonorgestrel 1.5 mg oral tablet has been available over the counter for more than 10 years and without an age limit since 2013.