Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC) is seen as one of the most promising changes for public health and women's rights in the last decade. In Aotearoa New Zealand, people have been very excited about LARC. There has been much effort to increase access and use, mostly focusing on women who are "at risk" (teens, women from ethnic minorities) and those who are on welfare. Amid all this excitement, women's reproductive freedom and their own thoughts on LARC haven't gotten much attention. As a result, the role of power relations and the politics of LARC and reproductive health in Aotearoa are still not well understood. This is a great case study for getting local data, including women's points of view, and for expanding the Reproductive Justice framework. The framework offers a more comprehensive way to think about reproductive health issues and has much potential use in Aotearoa (and beyond!).

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In this study, I aim to explore power and agency in the provision of LARC and look at how these insights can contribute to the theoretical development of the reproductive justice framework, both locally and globally. To enhance transnational applicability, the findings of the study are pooled with a sister study in South Africa, run by Yanela Ndabula and Catriona Macleod of Rhodes University's Critical Studies In Sexualities and Reproduction research centre.