フランス、２５歳未満の避妊無料に

【パリＡＦＰ＝時事】フランス政府は９日、２５歳未満のすべての女性を対象に、経口避妊薬（ピル）などの避妊法利用を無料化すると発表した。若い女性が経済的理由から避妊をやめることを防ぐため、現在１８歳以下を対象としている制度を拡大する。（写真は資料写真）
　オリビエ・ベラン保健相は、「一定数の若い女性」の間で避妊法利用が減少していることが調査で判明していると説明。「そうした女性たちが（避妊を）しないのは、経済的な理由からだ」と指摘した。
　この制度は、経口避妊薬、避妊リングのほか、避妊パッチなどのステロイドホルモンを用いた避妊法を対象としており、避妊のための医療機関受診も無料になる。
　避妊の無料化は、女性の権利向上や若者の貧困削減を目指し、エマニュエル・マクロン大統領が推し進める一連の施策の一環。仏政府は昨年、未成年者の人工妊娠中絶をなくすため、それまで１５～１８歳のみが対象とされていた避妊無料化を１５歳未満にも拡大していた。
　ドイツ、ベルギー、オランダ、ノルウェーをはじめとする欧州諸国では、１０代の若者に避妊が無料化されている。英国では、誰もが数種類の避妊法を無料で利用できる。
　フランスでは２０１２年から２０１８年にかけて、１５～１８歳の人工妊娠中絶の件数が１０００人当たり９．５人から６人に減少した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/09/10-13:16）

The French government said on Thursday it would make birth control free for all women under 25, expanding a scheme currently targeting under-18s to ensure young women don't stop taking contraception because they cannot afford it.
Health Minister Olivier Veran said surveys had shown a decline in the use of contraception among a certain number of young women.
Their main reason for going without (birth control) is financial, he said.
The scheme covers the pill, IUDs, contraceptive patches and other methods composed of steroid hormones.
Visits to the doctor for contraception will also be free, Veran said.
The move is part of a series of measures taken by President Emmanuel Macron's government to boost women's rights and alleviate youth poverty.
Last year, the government made free contraception available to girls under 15 for the first time -- previously it was only available to girls aged between 15 and 18 -- as part of a bid to end underage abortions.
Several European countries, including Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway, make contraception free for teens.
Britain makes several forms of contraception free to all.
In France, the number of abortions among 15-18 year-olds fell from 9.5 per 1,000 girls between 2012 and 2018 to 6 per 1,000.
But in some developed countries, the free contraception won by women after decades of campaigning is coming under attack again from the religious right.
In the US, former president Barack Obama's signature health reform, known as Obamacare, gave most people with health insurance free access to birth control.
But his successor Donald Trump scrapped the measure, allowing employers to opt out of providing contraception coverage on religious grounds -- a decision upheld by the Supreme Court in 2020.
Poland's conservative government has also heavily restricted access to emergency contraception as part of its war on birth control.