Grant: DRA : Canada Graduate Research Scholarship - Doctoral Program (CGRS D)

As of April 2025, the new Manitoba Enhanced Pharmacare Program (MEPP) gives free prescription birth control to Manitoba residents with provincial health insurance. Having access to free birth control and other reproductive health care is important to the health and wellbeing of all people. Access to birth control is also an important human right. This study will answer the following questions: Has the rate of people getting prescription birth control changed since the start of MEPP? Is there a difference between people who filled a new prescription for birth control before MEPP compared to after MEPP started? Does free prescription birth control change outcomes like teen pregnancy rates, use of abortion services or how often people get tested for sexually transmitted infections or screened for cancer? I will answer these questions with data from the Manitoba Population Research Data Repository at the University of Manitoba. The study group will include people with a uterus of reproductive age who are eligible for MEPP. Information from months before and after MEPP started will be used in my study. I will use advanced statistical methods to look at monthly patterns of health outcomes linked to birth control use in Manitoba. This research is important as it may show how free birth control affects people's health. This study will give early information about if the new health policy is helping Manitobans. As getting reproductive health care is becoming harder in some nearby jurisdictions, this study may show why access to free birth control is important.