More parents seeking birth control for younger patients, Fort Worth doctor says

FORT WORTH, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) -- Politics is not something Doctor Shanna Combs brings up with patients.

Increasingly, though, it is something they bring up with her.

"It was a little disconcerting at first in September when I started having parents be like, 'So... Senate Bill 8,'" she said chuckling.

Dr. Combs is an OBGYN who specializes in treating children and adolescents. She's long prescribed birth control to help manage their periods.

"It can make them lighter. It can make them less painful and, you know, basically make life livable if you have really bad periods," she said.

But lately she says more young patients and their parents are asking about ways to prevent pregnancy and about more effective forms of birth control, like IUDS and implants.

"They're mentioning it's because of recent rule changes between Senate Bill 8 and then now Roe v. Wade begin overturned," she said.

Overturning Roe v. Wade has triggered laws banning all abortions except when the mother's life is in danger. 

Texas Senate Bill 8, which took effect last year, had already barred most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. And Senate Bill 4 has limited the use of medication to induce abortions.

Dr. Combs says those state laws have affected other patient treatment, too.

"That's been the biggest issue is being able to get women their Misoprostol or Cytotec to help manage their miscarriage," she said.

Pharmacies, she says, have begun challenging prescriptions or refusing to fill them.

"That unfortunately leaves the patients with the option of wait-and-see until she starts bleeding – or doing surgery," she said.

And while she's now writing more prescriptions for contraception, Dr. Combs says many people still lack access to it, especially teenagers.