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AccessBC calls for improved pain management policy for IUD insertions

The Martlet, Dec. 18, 2025

AccessBC launched a new, province-wide campaign in November, calling on the provincial government to mandate improvements to pain management for individuals receiving intrauterine device (IUD) insertions. This movement comes two and a half years after B.C. implemented its universal contraception policy, a success that AccessBC says removed financial barriers, but inadvertently put a harsh spotlight on other long-overlooked systemic failures in patient care.

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'Not just a pinch' campaign aims to ensure pain management for IUD insertion

Times Colonist, Nov. 2, 2025

Two years ago, when B.C. began offering free prescription contraception, including intrauterine devices, it also increased physician compensation for insertion of intrauterine devices, or IUDs, and offered coverage for a local anesthetic. But AccessBC, a group that had been advocating for free contraception, says the program has exposed widely divergent practices — from fulsome to none — when it comes to pain options for IUD insertion.

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B.C. group working to relieve ‘excruciating’ pain in IUD insertions

The Progress, Nov. 22, 2025

After past success bringing free contraception to B.C., they are calling on the province to take several actions on IUD pain management.  That includes asking B.C. to adapt province-specific clinical guidelines for addressing IUD insertion pain management planning; create MSP billing mechanisms for pain control; work with post-secondary and training institutions to start mandatory training requirements for practitioners; and implement strategies for equitable access to pain management during IUD insertions.

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‘Systemic failure’: Advocacy group calls for easier access to pain relief during IUD insertions

CHEK News, Nov. 21, 2025

An advocacy group in B.C. is calling for easier access to pain relief for patients when getting an intrauterine device (IUD) inserted.

An IUD is a device that is placed in a uterus as a form of birth control. Researchers have claimed that insertion of an IUD causes “minimal pain,” but an AccessBC briefing paper notes that research in Canada that made this claim failed to document that 93 per cent of patients received lidocaine.

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Not just a pinch’; reproductive justice group push for IUD pain management

City News, November 17, 2025

More people in B.C. are choosing an IUD for their birth control, but the insertion is often painful and performed without any sedatives. Cecilia Hua with more on how a reproductive justice group is calling to make pain management more accessible.

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Study finds more women opted for IUDs after B.C. made birth control free

Times Colonist, July 28, 2025

A new study shows more women opted for long-acting birth control methods after British Columbia began covering the cost, which researchers say is strong reason for Ottawa's pharmacare plan to do the same.

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Victoria-based reproductive rights advocates awarded coronation medals

Saanich News, March 26, 2025

The founders of a campaign that aims to fight for free prescription contraception and reproductive justice has been awarded with King Charles III Coronation medals for their advocacy work around B.C.

In 2017, lawyer Devon Black and Saanich council member Teale Phelps Bondaroff founded the AccessBC Campaign, which grew from a kitchen table conversation between friends into a campaign comprising over 80 volunteers from across the province.  

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B.C. signs $670-million pharmacare agreement with federal government

Times Colonist, March 6, 2025

The British Columbia and federal governments have signed a four-year, $670-million pharmacare agreement, giving universal access to contraceptive and diabetes medications. The plan will support nearly 550,000 B.C. residents with diabetes and provide 1.3 million people with a range of contraceptives. It will also improve access to diabetes devices and supplies.

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Saanich councillor wins award in Ottawa for free contraception campaign

Saanich News, April 16, 2024

A group founded by a Saanich councillor and a local sexual health advocate is being recognized at the national level for the work done by the organization to bring free prescription contraception to B.C.

Coun. Teale Phelps Bondaroff and AccessBC co-founder Devon Black were jointly awarded the Jack Layton Progress Prize at the Broadbent Institute’s summit in Ottawa held last week between April 10 and 12 for the organization’s successful campaign.

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How a free contraception campaign turned into a national movement

Saanich News, Nov. 2, 2023

It’s no easy feat to launch a campaign that successfully makes changes to government legislation. That’s why when Devon Black found out her campaign for free prescription contraception had achieved its goal in 2023, she was flooded with emotion.

“I cried,” Black said. “It felt really incredible. The reason we kept going on as long as we did was because people kept telling us how important this was. People would say over and over again, ‘I know friends who want IUDs and can’t afford them,’ or ‘I personally have struggled with access to contraception.’”

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British Columbia’s coverage of contraceptives should inspire the rest of North America

The Conversation,

April 10, 2023

As of April 1, 2023 all residents of British Columbia gained access to free prescription contraception. This includes the birth control pill, injections and implants, IUDs and emergency contraception known as Plan B or the “morning after” pill.

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The grassroots movement that made contraception free in B.C.

Vancouver Sun, March 5, 2023

When prescription contraceptives become free starting April 1, it will be the culmination of an effort begun seven years ago by a grassroots group called AccessBC that had its start in a Vancouver Island kitchen as a back-of-the-envelope rough idea.

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B.C. to make contraception free — a first in Canada

CBC News, March 1, 2023

On April 1, B.C. will become the first Canadian jurisdiction to make prescription contraception free for all residents, including oral pills, injections, IUDs and the morning-after pill Plan B. Some are hoping other provinces will follow suit.

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Fighting to tear down barriers to prescription contraception, and smash the patriarchy, since 2017.

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