Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Given that over three-quarters of teen births are unintended at conception and that approximately half of those births are to teens using contraception, many have advocated for encouraging the use of long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs), which are more effective at preventing pregnancy than more commonly used contraceptives. We estimate the degree to which expanding access to LARCs can reduce teen birth rates by analyzing Colorado's Family Planning Initiative, the first large-scale policy intervention to expand access to LARCs in the United States. Using difference-in-differences, triple differences, and synthetic control approaches, we find that the $23M program reduced the teen birth rate in counties with clinics receiving funding by 4.6--7.9 percent over four years. These effects were concentrated in the second through fourth years of the program and in counties with relatively high rates of poverty.