[Requiring insurance companies to cover contraception with no co-pay,] a measure contained in new health care legislation pushed by President Barack Obama, “significantly” reduces unintended teen pregnancies and abortion rates in the United States, according to a new study.

“It’s just an amazing improvement,” Dr. James Breeden, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said after the study was published on Thursday. “I would think if you were against abortions, you would be 100 percent for contraception access.”

The study, conducted by the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the pro-choice organization Planned Parenthood, showed “a clinically and statistically significant reduction in abortion rates, repeat abortions, and teenage birth rates” among subjects who were given free contraception.

The study was conducted in the St. Louis area over a course of four years and comprised 9,256 women and teens between the ages of 14 and 45...

The researchers said that when cost was not an issue the women chose the most effective and permanent methods of contraception including implants, that usually cost several hundred dollars. The result was significantly less unintended pregnancies and abortions compared to the national average.