Providing teenagers with free, long-acting methods of contraception can cut their birth and abortion rates nearly in half, according to a yearslong experiment conducted by the the state of Colorado.

The New York Times reports that the abortion rate for teenagers in Colorado dropped by 42 percent from 2009 to 2013 after the state offered them free intrauterine devices and contraceptive implants, which can prevent pregnancies for years, through a private grant program. The birth rates among teenagers and another demographic -- unmarried women under 25 who did not complete high school -- also dropped by about 40 percent in the same period.

Colorado's Birth Control Success Sheds Light On Debate In Congress