Ireland: EC contributes to reduce teenage pregnancy

ByCristina Puig

January 2022 (edited May 2026). In Ireland, the wider use of emergency contraception (EC) is deemed to be one of the many contributing factors to a 73 % fall in the number of births to teenage mothers over the past 20 years, according to the report “Information Summary about Teenage Pregnancy in Ireland 2000-2020” published by Health Service Executive in January 2022.

According to experts consulted by the Irish Times, the fall in teenage pregnancies is multi-factorial, and responds to broad policy, legislative and societal changes in Ireland in the last 20 years, which have created a more supportive environment.

Furthermore, new measures are being prepared to make contraception free of cost to all young people aged 17-25 years, before the end of 2022.

Read more on the Irish Times.

 

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