A recent (9/23/09)  report from the Alan Guttmacher Institute confirms many public health workers’ worst fears: the recession may impact women’s use of contraceptives:

From the release: “Nearly one in four women have put off a gynecologic or birth control visit in the past year to save money, and the same proportion report having a harder time paying for birth control than they did in the past.”

Among the survey results, 8% of women note that they  “sometimes did not use birth control in order to save money.” 18% of pill-users, furthermore, report “inconsistent use as a means of saving money.”  This inconsistent use is more common among women who are struggling financially  (25% vs. 6%)

A pdf of the full report is available here.