At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Austin did not have any Title X clinics where teens could access free and confidential birth control services. At the time teens also no longer had the freedom to leave the house to get contraceptive products. Around this same time a pharmaceutical company donated about 600 emergency contraceptives to Jane’s Due Process. After a conversation with a fellow Texas abortion fund, the Bridge Collective, the joint repro kit program was born!
Inspired by the Plan B NOLA program, Bridge Collective and Jane’s Due Process joined forces to deliver free emergency contraceptives, pregnancy tests, condoms and an info zine to anyone in Austin that requested one through the JDP text line! Since then the program expanded to Lubbock, Bryan, College Station and San Angelo, all areas where young people continue to face multiple barriers to birth control access. All deliveries are contactless and delivered within 12-48 hours. And in 2022 our first pick-up location, Tumbleweed + Sage Coffeehouse, launched near Lubbock!
Here’s a brief timeline of the program:
May 2020: The joint repro kit program between Jane’s Due Process and the Bridge Collective launched in Austin. Anyone could text our textline (866.999.5263) and provide a safe address and time to deliver the kit. A Bridge Collective volunteer will deliver the kit within 12-48 hours.
October 2020: Nine medical clinics in Austin began participating in the Title X program, allowing more access for youth to obtain free and confidential reproductive health services. JDP had a plan to expand to the cities that have the largest birth control deserts for teens.
January 2021: JDP launched a solo program in Lubbock County because at the time the nearest Title X clinic was about 45 miles away in Brownfield. Lubbock youth had no way of accessing free and confidential birth control, so we wanted to bring it to their door! The process is the same — someone texts the JDP hotline, provides a safe address and delivery time and a local JDP volunteer will deliver the kit within 12-48 hours.
July 2021: Bridge Collective took sole ownership of the program in Austin.
January 2022: JDP launched the repro kit program in Bryan + College Station because the nearest Title X clinic is over 70 miles away. Since JDP had a volunteer base in Bryan/College Station and there’s a large student population at A&M, this felt like a great opportunity to expand the kit program!
July 2022: The first business in Lubbock became a pick-up location — Tumbleweed & Sage Coffeehouse in Wolforth! Kits are left in cabinets in both bathrooms so people can grab them discreetly during business hours. This is a great option for some people who livenearby or need the kits ASAP!
January 2023: JDP launched the repro kit program in San Angelo because the nearest Title X clinic is over 80 miles away. We also have 2 local businesses that are pick-up locations for the kits. When someone texts into our text line to ask for a kit a volunteer will ask if they’d prefer to pick it up or have it delivered. Kits are left either in the bathroom or near the entrance at pickup locations.
