Paying GP clinics to provide contraceptive advice is linked to fewer abortions, study finds

A scheme that paid general practices to offer information on long acting contraceptives (LARCs), such as the hormonal implant, was associated with an increase in their use and a fall in abortions, a study has found.

The paper published in PLOS Medicine1 estimated that, by 2013-14, the scheme had resulted in an additional 4.53 LARC prescriptions per 1000 women (relative increase 13.4%) above what was expected without the scheme.

Meanwhile, abortions fell 38% beyond what was expected (absolute reduction 5.3 per 1000 women) four years after the incentive was introduced. This is the equivalent of 95 170 fewer abortions than expected if extrapolated across the …