No Drama is Making a Huge Difference
Non-profit Provides 8 Forms of Free or Low-Cost Birth Control to SC Women
January 2025 Issue
By Edwina Hoyle
New Morning, a state-wide nonprofit organization, is one of the largest, most successful contraceptive access programs in the U.S., said Bonnie Kapp, CEO and president.
“Our nonprofit clinical network provides family planning counseling and free or low-cost birth control for low-income, uninsured or underinsured women in every corner of the state. We need to ensure equitable status, despite geographic, social, and income barriers,” Bonnie added. “So many women in South Carolina work multiple jobs and still have no money. And 30 percent of rural communities have no medical facilities.” South Carolina is in the top 10 states in the poverty rate, and 14 of its 46 counties have no OB-GYNS.
The group has received support through the S.C. Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the Medicaid program, and received two million dollars through that agency in previous years. “Generally there has been good bipartisan support in the past, for which New Morning is grateful,” she said. "I don't know if there will be receptivity or not at this point, but I certainly hope that with the very good data we have now on the impact of the program, the legislature will continue to support us. We need to make up that money.”
Since New Morning’s launch in 2002, South Carolina’s unintended pregnancy rate has plummeted from 50% down to to 37%—the lowest in two decades. Unwanted births declined 58% and intended births increased 28%. Demand for birth control has skyrocketed since mid-2022, but the organization has still been able to serve 1 in 3 women in South Carolina. From January to November 2024, they provided more than $3.1 million in subsidized birth control for South Carolinians, a significant increase over years past.
“Our goal is to empower women to make responsible choices, to make the right decisions for their families. I’m optimistic about the work done on behalf of women in South Carolina,” Bonnie said. “We have achieved a seismic shift in providing access to credible information and services. And we continue to think about ways to remove barriers.”
New Morning’s mission is to transform healthcare in partnership with communities, providers, and patients to ensure everyone can obtain high-quality sexual and reproductive health services. And every woman deserves to control whether or when to start or expand her family—no one should have to face an unwanted, preventable pregnancy. Since 2017, New Morning has improved the lives of more than 530,000 women with direct access to contraceptive and reproductive healthcare.
Bonnie explained that New Morning provides free training for clinical providers, such as doctors, nurses and clinicians, across the state. Their program is accredited, therefore continuing education credits are granted. “We need to continue to build our workforce community. We currently have 9,000 providers,” she said.
Their model is unparalleled. According to Bonnie, there are only four statewide programs like this in the U.S.: Colorado, Delaware, Tennessee, and South Carolina. “We’re the largest program and our outcomes have far exceeded data from other initiatives.”
Every woman in South Carolina now has an equal opportunity to get whatever birth control she chooses, no matter where she lives or her economic status. New Morning has built a complex system of health centers, as well as partners to combat the state’s contraceptive deserts. They equip providers to offer patient-centered, non-coercive contraceptive counseling and eight methods of free or low-cost, FDA-approved birth control. Other important work is done with hospitals to get contraception to new mothers soon after birth to help prevent another pregnancy weeks later, which can threaten the health of the mother and also impact the new infant.
"Demand has really spiked," said Bonnie. After the Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade and allowed greater abortion restrictions, including South Carolina's six-week ban, women have been turning more and more to New Morning for access, and they have responded.
From July 2023 through June 2024, more than 88,000 women sought birth control through New Morning—its biggest year and a 16 percent increase over the previous year. The website had a 20 percent increase in appointment requests. The group estimates it helped prevent 19,000 unintended pregnancies that year alone.
The nonprofit works around the state with 134 clinics and telehealth providers to help provide free or low-cost contraceptives. Women can get appointments and more information through New Morning’s nodrama.org website. Donations are welcome and needed to support their work.
Local providers working with New Morning include three sites operated by Beaufort Jasper Hampton Comprehensive Health Services at:
• Port Royal Medical Center, 1624 Ribaut Road, Suite 200, Beaufort, SC
• Chelsea Medical Center, 719 Okatie Hwy., Okatie, SC
• Hampton Medical Center, 200 Elm Street East, Hampton, SC
Access for All: A Reproductive Health Summit 2025
April 29-30, 2025 “We at New Morning look to bring like-minded individuals passionate about providing/increasing access to high-quality, person-centered, and evidence-based sexual and reproductive healthcare at our summit.” Visit newmorning.org/conference
--THE STATS--
New Morning 2023 At a Glance
> 150+ Partner Clinics
> 87,000+ Patients Served
> 138% Increase in Individual Donors
> 15,600+ Birth Control Methods Provided
for Free or Low Cost
> 238% Increase in Annual Subsidized Vasectomies Over a Two-Year Period (2021-2023)
> 18,810 Unintended Pregnancies Prevented (Guttmacher Data Center)
> $150 Million In Maternal and Birth-Related
Costs Saved from Contraceptive
> Services Provided (Guttmacher Data Center)
Source: newmorning.org