Emergency Contraception Deserts in the New Orleans Metropolitan Area Post-Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization [ID: 1369505

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Recent legal changes limit access to abortion in Louisiana. Ensuring access to over-the-counter (OTC) emergency contraception (EC) is essential in the current environment. Building on the idea of “food deserts,” we aimed to identify EC deserts, or places where urban residents would need to travel more than 1 mile to acquire OTC EC. METHODS: During the months of August and September 2022, secret shoppers surveyed all retail pharmacies in Jefferson, Orleans, and Terrebonne parishes (counties) to ascertain the availability of OTC EC. Distance from such pharmacies was calculated for each of the 348 census tract centroids (CTCs) in the survey region. Chi-square analysis was used to compare the number of CTCs with a distance greater than 1 mile to OTC EC relative to the number of pharmacies stocking OTC EC in a given parish (county). RESULTS: Of 212 eligible pharmacies, 97 (46%) offered EC for sale OTC and had it in stock: 46% in Jefferson Parish, 46% in Orleans Parish, and 45% in Terrebonne Parish. Mean distance from CTC to a pharmacy stocking EC OTC was 1.45 miles, and median distance was 0.66 miles. Overall, 26% of CTCs met the above criteria for emergency contraception deserts; 21% of pharmacies in Jefferson and Orleans parishes met criteria compared to 69% of pharmacies in Terrebonne Parish (P<.001). CONCLUSION: Fewer than half of surveyed Louisiana retail pharmacies have immediately available OTC emergency contraception, with nearly 70% of census tracts located in Terrebonne Parish defined as EC deserts.