Thank you, Birth Control
Celebrating Progress and Building What Comes Next
On Thanks, Birth Control Day, we want to say: Thank you, birth control, for helping people make decisions about their bodies, their families, and their futures.
At Caring for Colorado, we believe all Coloradans, no matter who they are or where they live in our state, should have the information and services they need to make informed and timely decisions about their health and well-being. Sexual and reproductive health is an important part of that. Medically accurate information and culturally relevant services, including access to contraceptive care, are essential to supporting all Coloradans, and especially young people, as they make decisions about their bodies, relationships, and futures.
Colorado has a long history of showing what is possible when we invest in both affordable contraception and the providers and systems that make access possible. For the past decade, Caring for Colorado has been privileged to contribute to that effort. We have invested more than $25 million in reproductive health strategies across Colorado to improve access to contraception, provide comprehensive sex education to young people, strengthen providers, and support policies that protect and expand reproductive health and rights in our state.
Read about the results of this work, what we learned and the work that remains HERE.
This year, as we conclude ReproCollab, we are entering a new era of work and investment in sexual and reproductive health equity in Colorado. Our nonprofit subsidiary, the Colorado Centennial Fund (CCF), will lead the development of new strategies through a collaborative approach that brings together funders, clinicians, researchers, advocates, community organizations, and grassroots leaders.
This next chapter comes at an important moment.
Colorado has made tremendous progress, but that progress is not permanent, nor has it reached everyone equally. Federal funding uncertainty, threats to Title X, changes to Medicaid, rising costs, workforce shortages, mis- and disinformation, and persistent gaps in rural and frontier communities are putting increasing pressure on the providers and systems Coloradans rely upon. And we know that having insurance coverage or a supportive state policy does not necessarily mean someone can find a provider, afford the method they want, travel to a clinic, receive confidential care, or get an appointment when they need one.
Caring for Colorado and the Colorado Centennial Fund are partnering to advance the state’s progress toward reproductive health equity. Caring for Colorado will continue to support school-based health centers providing reproductive health care, comprehensive sex education, and Choose When, which provides grants to clinics to ensure that cost does not determine the contraceptive method available to a patient.
Read about the results and learnings from three years of Choose When HERE.
At the same time, the Colorado Centennial Fund is beginning to explore what the next era of this work calls for.
Last week, Caring for Colorado and the Colorado Centennial Fund hosted a two-day gathering in Vail for conversation, reflection, and planning with reproductive health leaders from across Colorado. The gathering brought together people working in public health and the primary care safety net, reproductive rights and justice, youth-serving organizations, government, community organizations, philanthropy, and communities across rural, frontier, and urban Colorado.
We came together not because we believe any one organization has the answers, but because the challenges ahead are bigger than any one organization can solve alone. We wanted to take stock of Colorado’s progress, understand the challenges putting that progress at risk, and imagine what the next era of reproductive health access could look like.
We left Vail filled with hope and ideas for the future. Three things stood out.
First, Colorado has made extraordinary progress, and there is a great deal worth protecting. The reproductive health landscape looks different today because providers, advocates, policymakers, communities, public agencies, funders, and many others have built it together over many years.
Second, access takes more than coverage. It depends on a strong workforce, financially sustainable providers, affordable contraceptive methods, trusted information, confidentiality, and care that people can actually access. Those foundations are increasingly under strain.
And third, there is tremendous energy for what comes next. Even amid uncertainty, we saw creativity, commitment, strong relationships, and a desire to work together. We were reminded that Colorado’s future is not predetermined. We have choices about what we build and protect together.
That is the work the Colorado Centennial Fund is stepping into. CCF exists to bring people, ideas, and resources together around complex challenges that no single organization can solve alone. In reproductive health, that means working alongside partners across Colorado to strengthen the ecosystem that supports equitable access to health care, education, information, and the systems people need to realize their sexual and reproductive goals.
We do not have the answers to the challenges before us, nor do we believe the answers belong to any one organization. If Colorado’s history teaches us anything, it is that lasting progress happens when people work across organizations, communities, and sectors toward something larger than any one of us can accomplish alone.
Ultimately, this work isn’t about any particular program or contraceptive method. It is about whether people have genuine choices about their bodies, relationships, families, and futures.
On Thanks, Birth Control Day, we have a great deal to celebrate. Colorado has shown what is possible when people come together to expand reproductive health access. But gratitude for progress cannot become complacency about keeping it.
Thank you, birth control.
And thank you to everyone who keeps making choice possible.
On November 12, we’re joining @powertodecide for #ThxBirthControl Day to show just how many people count on it. Add your voice: powertodecide.org/thxbirthcontrol