© 2024 Public Radio Tulsa
800 South Tucker Drive
Tulsa, OK 74104
(918) 631-2577

A listener-supported service of The University of Tulsa
classical 88.7 | public radio 89.5
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

National health startup helping to connect Oklahomans to reproductive healthcare

The Plan B One-Step morning-after pill will now be available to women as young as 15 without a prescription.
AP
The Plan B One-Step morning-after pill will now be available to women as young as 15 without a prescription.

In the wake of the Supreme Court's decision on Roe v. Wade, women across the United States have been left without easy access to many reproductive healthcare services.

Oklahoma has some of the most restrictive laws on reproductive rights in the country.

Members of a national health start up said they're hoping to connect women across the state with both the tools and education they need to make confident and safe health decisions concerning their reproductive health.

Co-founder of Stix, Jamie Norwood, said kicking off the program in the state was made possible by a private donor.

"We were lucky enough to have been reached out to by a private donor in Oklahoma who was really excited about this program," Norwood explained. "We've been working together to launch this campaign, and have already distributed 2,500 doses of the morning-after pill in Oklahoma."

That's over 650 packages to hundreds of women across the state.

The "Oklahoma kit" is completely free and comes with three morning-after pills and two pregnancy tests.

Norwood and her team were surprised by how quickly the program took off in the Sooner state — and said that Stix even temporarily ran out of the kits for Oklahomans.

The Stix team said access is just as important as education. Norwood says she's been seeing a lot of misinformation going around comparing the morning-after pill to the abortion pill.

"So, the morning after pill simply prevents pregnancy from happening; it doesn't terminate the pregnancy." Norwood said. " So, it falls under the camp of birth control. You can think of it as kind of the same thing as wearing a condom — it just prevents pregnancy before it happens."

The abortion pill on the other hand does terminate a pregnancy. It requires visiting a doctor and is not currently legal in all 50 states.

Anyone can request the "Oklahoma kit" to be discreetly delivered to their front door. Norwood said all people have to do is visit their website and enter their home address.

Before making her way to Public Radio Tulsa, KWGS News Director Cassidy Mudd worked as an assignment editor and digital producer at a local news station. Her work has appeared on ABC, CBS, and NBC affiliates across the country.