While 15-18 year olds could get free contraception since 2013, they can now have, beforehand, a medical consultation or free and anonymous biological examinations. Free admission also applies during a medical consultation followed by a doctor or midwife the first year of access to contraception and for acts relating to the installation, change or withdrawal of certain contraceptives such as 'implant. The only condition to have access to free: be aged 15, 16 or 17 years.
Less than 1% of contraceptives delivered to minors anonymously
Since the 2013 law, contraception could not appear on the statement of refunds at the request of the minor but the law was not well applied. In fact, "less than 1% of contraceptives delivered to minors aged 15 to 17 years in 2014" were made anonymously, notes a report from the IGAS (Inspectorate General of Social Affairs). The main cause: "neither the pharmacist nor the minor girl know this possibility".
In addition, medical appointments were not anonymous or free. The minor who did not want to tell her parents that she had been prescribed a contraceptive at her doctor's office had to "not use their vital card and pay for the entire consultation" or the doctor had to "issue, in addition to the contraceptive order, another order to allow the minor to justify consultation with parents, "says the report of IGAS. The only option was family planning.
"An absence of contraception due to financial difficulties"
From now on, the entire medical journey becomes free and protected by secrecy. "If the minor asks for it, no mention of her identity will be disclosed and there will be no mention of acts and consultations, contraceptives on the reimbursement statements of health insurance," says the Social Security Directorate of the Ministry of Health. Social Affairs and Health hopes to "lift the potential financial barriers to access contraception for minors who do not enjoy financial autonomy vis-à-vis their parents." Because each year, "about 11,000 underage girls use abortion.Many studies show that one of the causes of these unwanted pregnancies is the lack of contraception especially due to financial difficulties."
