About 33 percent of U.S. women said that they had had to delay or cancel a visit for sexual and reproductive healthcare or had had trouble getting their birth control because of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new survey from the Guttmacher Institute shows.
The survey was conducted April 30-May 6. It polled 2,009 women ages 18 to 49 years.
The survey found that while one in three women reported barriers to timely sexual and reproductive healthcare, these barriers were more common among Black women (38 percent) and Hispanic women (45 percent) than among white women (29 percent). Lower-income women (36 percent) were also more likely than higher-income women (31 percent) to report delays or inability to get contraception or reproductive healthcare because of the pandemic.
About 28 percent of women said they worry more than they used to be about being able to get sexual and reproductive healthcare because of the pandemic. And 27 percent of the respondents said that they were more worried than they used to be about being able to afford or obtain a specific contraceptive.