INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Getting birth control will no longer require a visit to the doctor’s office after a new app launched in Indiana on Tuesday.
Hoosiers can download the app Nurx to get a birth control prescription and have the contraception delivered to their door.
Women can register for a free Nurx account online by filling out a basic medical questionnaire and exchanging a few messages with a doctor. After choosing a birth control type and brand, women can enter their insurance info for review. A doctor will issue and fill the prescription, which will be delivered to their home.
Uninsured patients can still receive birth control at a cost of $15.
Hans Gangeskar, cofounder and CEO of Nurx, says accessibility and affordability are the keys to getting more women to use birth control.
According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancies, 49% of all pregnancies in Indiana are described as unplanned. In 2010, public spending for unplanned pregnancies in Indiana totaled an estimated $376 million.
Nurx is currently only authorized to deliver in California, Washington, New York, Washington, D.C., Illinois, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, Maryland, and now Indiana.
According to the Nurx website, the minimum age requirements for birth control vary by state, but the patient must be at least 12-years-old to be considered.
The introduction of this app comes just over a year after some women across the nation feared the election of Donald Trump and Mike Pence would mean the end for low cost access to birth control due to changes in Obamacare and Trump’s budget proposal to cut funding to Planned Parenthood.
Additionally, last November, thousands of people made donations to Planned Parenthood in Pence’s name in an effort to flood his office with thank you notes in a very atypical protest.
It was started as some women worried about the effect a Trump-Pence presidency would have on women’s reproductive rights.
