Not Up for Debate: LGBTQ People Need and Deserve Tailored Sexual and Reproductive Health Care

All people, including those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ), need sexual and reproductive health care. LGBTQ health issues and sexual and reproductive health care are inextricably linked, because they both involve individuals’ autonomy in their most intimate decisions. Unfortunately, the health care system in the United States has historically failed and largely continues to fail the LGBTQ community, as LGBTQ people experience major disparities in sexual and reproductive health care and worse health outcomes than the population overall. These differences are due to a series of barriers in the health care system, including fragmentation of health services, discrimination from providers and insurance issues, all of which can be exacerbated by racism and intersecting oppressions. Fortunately, sexual and reproductive health care providers can and do help to address these barriers, taking steps to make tailored, appropriate and lifesaving reproductive health care a reality for millions of LGBTQ people across the country.

Sexual and Reproductive Health Disparities

LGBTQ patients experience disparities in sexual and reproductive health care and outcomes. A recent study suggests that queer people who can get pregnant (except lesbians) are more likely than their straight counterparts to have an unintended pregnancy, a pregnancy when younger than 20 or an abortion, a finding that may suggest structural barriers to contraceptive care and a need for LGBTQ-inclusive comprehensive sex education. Research has shown that lesbian and bisexual women are less likely than straight women to perceive themselves as being at risk of acquiring STIs, a perception associated with minimized use of preventive reproductive health services.

Other research has found queer women do not access routine preventive screenings for breast cancer and cervical cancer at the same rate as their straight peers. These differences in perception and action regarding sexual and reproductive health services can lead LGBTQ individuals to have fewer diagnoses and treatments than their straight counterparts.

The COVID-19 pandemic may exacerbate the disparities LGBTQ people already experience. A recent Guttmacher study found that 46% of queer women reported pandemic-related delays or cancellations of contraceptive or other sexual and reproductive health care compared with 31% of straight women. The study also found that queer women were more likely than straight women to report wanting to delay childbearing or have fewer children.

Read full article at https://www.guttmacher.org/article/2020/11/not-debate-lgbtq-people-need-and-deserve-tailored-sexual-and-reproductive-health