In a nice development for your flagging faith in state governments, Colorado’s very successful program providing low-cost long-acting reversible contraception such as IUDs and hormonal implants for teens is getting funded again.


That’s according to a press release from the group LARC4CO, which we saw via Vox’s Sarah Kliff. “The Colorado Department of Health and Environment requested an additional $2.5 million for its existing family planning budget in the 2016 – 2017 fiscal year,” explained the group. “After narrowly rejecting attempts to increase funding in 2015, state lawmakers agreed to allocate additional state funding in this year’s budget.” The announcement continued:

“This modest investment marks the next phase in a tremendously successful program that has impacted the entire state of Colorado,” said Lisa VanRaemdonck, executive director of the Colorado Association of Local Public Health Officials and a co-chair of the coalition of 44 organizations supporting funding for the program. “The data is clear. When women have access to the family planning method that works best for themselves and their families, our financial investment is returned through better short and long-term outcomes for women and their families.”


Thanks to the program, Colorado’s birth rate for women 15 to 19 dropped like a rock from 2009 to 2014—falling 48 percent, all told.