Family Planning
Family Planning is a public health preventive service that addresses infant mortality through the provision of clinical and educational services designed to prevent unintended pregnancies.
Confidential Family Planning services are available in all 46 counties and 71 clinic sites. These services include comprehensive clinical services:
- Education and counseling
- A complete individual and family history
- A physical assessment, including a Pap smear for cervical cancer
- Laboratory testing, including pregnancy testing, as appropriate
- HIV risk assessment, education and counseling
- HIV testing with informed consent
- Administration and dispensing of legally prescribed drugs and other methods of birth control, and
- Follow up of abnormal findings, as required by program policy or federal guidelines.
Sexually active clients, who are at-risk of an unintended pregnancy, are offered a broad range of acceptable and effective medically approved birth control methods, including:
- Instruction in abstinence
- Hormonal contraceptives
- Intrauterine devices
- Barrier contraceptives
- Instruction in natural family planning methods, and
- Permanent methods of contraception for both women and men, following stringent federal regulations.
All services are:
- Provided as required by federal regulations
- Provided solely on a voluntary basis,
- Confidential, and
- Offered in accordance with state and federal laws and regulations pertaining to discrimination.
Section 1008 of the Federal Title X regulations strictly prohibits the use of any appropriated funds in any program where abortion is provided as a method of birth control. No abortion services or activities are provided or paid for by DHEC.