Should Pregnancy be reclassified as a 'High-Risk Medical Condition' or as a 'Short-Term Disability'?

[TheBlackAdder]

Right now, the justification for male enhancers is that they address a medical condition. There are a bunch of people who do not have this condition, but feign it to their doctors so that they can get these enhancers, so they can last longer in bed. Instead of doing it one or twice, they want the sustained abilities that these drugs provide.

Since birth control is used by people who are trying to stave off a pregnancy, there is no medical condition, hence it is deemed to be 'optional' and not mandated.

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If pregnancies were reclassified from nothing to an employer optional (most states) "Maternity Leave" into a medical condition that could jeopardize the woman or viable fetus (which some pregnancies do) or even changed to the federally protected 'Disability" status...

not only would pregnancy leave be federally mandated and enforced nation wide, but contraceptives might be claimed to stave off such a medical risk or disability, thereby negating the whole religious exemption issue. The same objections to preventing contraceptions might then apply to male enhancers.

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The classification of pregnancy needs to be changed from a casual medical condition to a more serious one.

The classification of birth control needs to be changed from an optional preventive measure to a protected measure.


This is just an off-the-cuff concept with little contemplation, so I would appreciate the crowd-sourced analysis of such a change to the pregnancy status, since the more diverse the talent is, the more diverse the knowledge and views would be.

[WillowTree]

1. Contraceptives don't treat pregnancy.

ED drugs are covered because they restore a normal bodily function which isn't.......functioning normally.

Most insurance plans now cover contraceptives. That's been mandated in some states for years. But when they're excluded (by insurance companies, not having to do with employers etc) it's because they're not being used to treat a disease or bodily malfunction but in fact prevent a normal bodily function.

Further, that exclusion does not apply in those cases where birth control pills are prescribed, not for contraceptive purposes, but on a short-term basis to treat dysmenorrhea or endometriosis. I've also seen them allowed, again on a short term basis, when a woman (usually a teenager) is being prescribed Acutane to treat acne because it can cause serious, often life threatening, birth defects.

Just posted for informational purposes.

[moriah]

7. Sneezing is also a natural, normal bodily function, along with coughing, running a fever, etc.

All of these things are natural body processes.

So why do we give people a flu shot to prevent them from having to sneeze, cough, and run a fever?

[alarimer]

16. Because the flu kills.

Normally it most likely kills the elderly and people with compromised immune systems. The more people get the flu shot, the less likely the flu is to spread to those people who may die from it.

[ljm2002]

17. Pregnancy and childbirth kill too...

...but of course it's not as big an issue, as it only kills wimmin. (not accusing you with that remark, just expressing my own bitterness)

[moriah]

19. So does pregnancy.

The vast majority of people who get the flu, or get pregnant, will deal with a brief period of disability and then recover and move on with their lives.

But there are many women who shouldn't have kids for their health, just like there are many people who really should avoid getting the flu if they can. The more women have access to highly effective birth control, the less likely it is that those women will become pregnant unintentionally and suffer serious complications or death.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

2. That's an interesting point. Should BC be in the same status as flu shots?

Preventive medicine? I like it.

[The Magistrate]

3. That Is An Interesting Idea, Ma'am

Something on the order of one in five thousand pregnancies here ends in death of the mother, and strenuous efforts are made to ward off lesser risks than that in our society.

[YarnAddict]

4. Pregnancy CAN BECOME a high-risk medical condition

but probably at least 99% of the time it isn't because it is what nature designed the female of every species to do.

[redqueen]

6. Please don't make up statistics. Especially not to minimize risks to women's health 'because nature'

There is a LONG list of pregnancy-related health risks to women, and most of them affect much more than 1% of pregnant women.

[YarnAddict]

10. Okay . . .

For the vast majority of women, pregnancy follows a routine course. Some women, however, have medical difficulties related to their health or the health of their baby. These women experience what is called a high-risk pregnancy.

High-risk complications occur in only 6 percent to 8 percent of all pregnancies. These complications can be serious and require special care to ensure the best possible outcome.

http://www.ucsfhealth.org/conditions/high-risk_pregnancy/

I was off by a few percentage points. Still, not enough to reclassify all pregnancies as "high risk."

[redqueen]

14. Did someone here say all pregnancies are high risk?

Is it your opinion that women should be expected to subject themselves to any risk if they choose not to? Because if not then birth control avoids health risk. Whether the risk is high enough for you to deem it suitable to warrant avoiding is neither here nor there.

I see that another DUer has characterized the blowback you're getting for your blase attitude about pregnancy-related health risks as an "attack". Conskdering who said that, well... I'll just say that it's just precious.

[YarnAddict]

20. Well, um, yeah . . .

check out the title of the OP. Someone here suggested reclassifying ALL pregnancies as a "high risk medical condition."

[redqueen]

23. FFS, I read "potentially" into that sentence, because logic. nt

[YarnAddict]

24. Why would your read "potentially" into it

when the object is apparently to do an end-around the SC decision?

[redqueen]

25. Wow. I don't even know what to say to you.

Pregnancy is a POTENTIALLY high risk to the health of the mother and therefore medicine which allows women to dramatically lower their risk of becoming pregnant is HEALTHCARE.

What is the disconnect that is causing you not to get this and instead harp on how it's 'what nature designed women for'?!

[ljm2002]

18. My pregnancies and births were not high-risk...

...and they went without complications, me and each baby were just fine.

But you know what? 30-some years later, I'm still dealing with some long term health issues from those uncomplicated childbirths.

[CreekDog]

28. you were off by a few percentage points because you made it up

please don't make medical observations here which have a basis in your imagination.

[moriah]

8. Nature didn't design shit. Gag me with a fucking forklift.

"Nature" doesn't have consciousness to be able to design or decide anything.

And if there was any intelligence in the design, they wouldn't have ran two sewer lines through the playground.

[YarnAddict]

11. All righty, then,

humans evolved to perpetuate the species in the most efficient way possible. Meaning, you cannot classify ALL pregnancies as high risk medical conditions, like, you know, aneurysms and such.

[moriah]

15. The species can survive many maternal deaths. And has. Doesn't mean pregnancy is a piece of cake.

This is being said by the 7 lb parasite that nearly killed its mother (though I've grown since then and caused her many more problems, I'm sure). Vasa previa with marginal placenta previa. We both had to have blood transfusions. In 1980.

Of course, it was probably just payback, since Mom nearly killed her mother, too. What they called "kidney poisoning" (most likely preeclampsia) -- they induced her with two bottles of castor oil in 1951.

Pregnancy is the most dangerous preventable medical condition most women will ever experience.

[Ilsa]

9. You need to look up some statistics on maternal/child

Mortality. There are places in the US where it is higher than in third world countries. You go sell that "99%" bullshit on FreeRepublic.

[YarnAddict]

12. I did.

http://www.ucsfhealth.org/conditions/high-risk_pregnancy/

Six to eight percent of pregnancies are high risk.

And, as far as infant mortality stats go, you really can't compare US rates to 3rd world countries because many babies born alive here would have been miscarriages or stillbirths in other parts of the world.

[Ilsa]

27. That's not the only statistic to be considered. Actual outcomes

Tell a more complete story, not a statistic of which category the pregnancy fits in.

Environmental issues, access to prenatal care, C-section rates are risks not included in your category. Those events have serious impact on delivery and postpartum.

[RobertEarl]

13. Yep. Pregnancy is natural

You will be attacked for that.

As for the rest of he thread? I will just say: Yes Mam'. <grin>

[pnwmom]

21. C-sections are performed about 1/3 of the time these days, so that's a sign

doctors see significant risk.

If 99% of the time pregnancies were uncomplicated I don't think doctors would be doing c-sections 1/3 of the time.

[YarnAddict]

22. Doctors do see significant risk--

--of being sued. It is well known that Caesarian sections are performed waaaaaaaaaaay to often, and one of the reasons is that docs fear being sued in the (unlikely) event that something goes wrong.

Anyway, upthread I amended my statement. About 92% of the time pregnancies are normal. The OP was suggesting that ALL pregnancies be classified as high risk medical conditions. Let's not ever go there.

[Freddie]

5. The whole point of the contraception mandate in the ACA

Is that pregnancy can be a dangerous, high-risk condition **when pregnancies are spaced too close together**. The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology now recommends that women wait at least 2 years between pregnancies for the least risk of death and complications for herself and the baby.
Hobby Lobby is really pro-death.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

26. High-risk conditions and disabilities are things we work to prevent/cure in every instance.

Nobody ever says, "I'm looking forward to our third lymphoma. We're naming it after my mother's sister." or, "We're seeing a specialist to contract diabetes."

[TheBlackAdder]

29. Yep. That's why birth control is a required need, sans trying to procreate the race.

Only a fool would say that abstinance is the ONLY solution, since it worked so well in the past.