The decree has been officially ordered on Thursday August 27, 2020. From that very day, girls under 15 years old will no longer have to pay for consulting a gynecologist to get a contraceptive prescribed to them, and the pill and other means of contraception are now free of charge for them.
In concrete words, girls under 15 years wishing to get the pill or any other mean of contraception (IUD, implant, patch, diaphragm) will no longer have to pay for the copayment, that is to say the sum that patients must pay when visiting a doctor or when different medical acts are performed. According to the article R160-17 from the French Social Security Code, are now free for all underaged girls:
This treatment was already guaranteed at 100% by the health insurance for girls from 15 to 18 years old since 2013. To justify this measure in girls under 15 years old, the government said that “every year, about 1,000 young girls aged 12 to 14 are pregnant in France” and that “among these pregnancies, 770 end up as an abortion”.
Thanks to making means of contraception free, the abortion rate in 15-17 years old girl drastically dropped, moving from 9.5 abortion for 1000 in 2012, to 6 for 1000 in 2018. For the record, doctors can receive underaged girls without the parents being present, and piece together a secret file for an anonymous inquiry. Requiring contraception will not be added on the social security card nor on the health insurance file checkable by the parents.
