The Company Making It Easier For Texans To Access Birth Control

For many women in Texas, obtaining birth control is surprisingly difficult. It often involves a doctor’s visit, a prescription, and monthly refills. But there’s a company that’s trying to make that easier.

Pandia Health was founded in 2016 and is now one of the largest online health clinics that provides and ships personalized prescription birth control, acne care, and even menopause treatment. Not only are their services convenient, but they are also confidential. Patients who use Pandia Health can receive the birth control pill, patch, ring and even emergency contraceptives.

Texas Signal spoke with the co-founder of Pandia Health Dr. Sophia Yen (who is also the Chief Medical Officer) about their services, and why birth control is safe and effective.

Dr. Yen first started conceiving of the idea for Pandia Health about a decade ago recognizing that the number one reason women don’t take birth control is simply because “they don’t have it in their hand.” Perplexed at a system that required a visit to a brick-and-mortar pharmacy every month, Dr. Yen became determined to start a mail-order pharmacy.

Now Pandia Health has over 40,000 patients across the United States. A potential new patient who would like birth control simply visits their website and completes a questionnaire that a doctor will review. According to Dr. Yen, 94 percent of patients continue with their first treatment plan after ten weeks.

One factor for Pandia Health’s success at prescribing the right birth control plan for patients involves the online questionnaire. Dr. Yen notes that many patients feel more comfortable describing their actual symptoms or goals online versus in person at a doctor’s office.

The delivery cost for the medication is also free and arrives in discreet packages. This is important for patients who might not feel comfortable sharing their birth control status.

Not surprisingly, Pandia Health found a new influx of users during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Yen even jokes that her husband commented that everything that is “bad for the world is great for [the] company.” Another spike in searches for the service came when Roe v. Wade was reversed in 2022, especially in red states like Texas.

The team behind Pandia Health also works very hard to dispel misinformation around birth control. They do these through videos on YouTube, TikTok and other social media channels. Dr. Yen is proud that many of these videos have thousands of viewers and that there are no ads or promotions, just facts. “I know the questions my patients keep asking me, and I answer it as a physician and as a person who personally used the product,” said Dr. Yen.

While Pandia Health is thriving, Dr. Yen does acknowledge a small glimmer of apprehension regarding the new presidential administration that could potentially threaten telemedicine that ships birth control and emergency contraception. Dr. Yen notes that concern stems from “any time anybody invokes Comstock.”

The Comstock Act was enacted by Congress in 1873 and banned the mailing and receiving of “obscene, lewd, or lascivious” writings and materials. It also made it illegal to disseminate any form of birth control or contraception, as well as “any article of thing” used for an abortion. While much of that Act has been repealed, Project 2025 regularly invoked it as a means to stop the shipment of medication abortion (which Pandia Health does not send out).

For now Dr. Yen and the team at Pandia Health remain steadfast in their primary mission. “One should not be guilty of any crime helping women prevent unplanned pregnancies.” She also stresses again that emergency contraceptives (which Pandia Health does send) are not abortifacients. 

For women in Texas who do want to use their services, if they have health insurance then it is just $30 a year to discuss their options with expert physicians. There are also some funds and tax deductions potential patients could use if they do not have health insurance. 

Dr. Yen believes strongly in the ability of obtaining easy-to-access birth control (as well as the other services like menopause treatment Pandia Health provides). And for women in Texas, this could be a lifesaver.