Another view on contraception, health care and the feds
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But with all we know about the public health benefits of preventing unplanned pregnancies, and we know a lot, this opposition ought not to shape public policy or the operation of publicly funded institutions. The proper use of birth control saves lives, prevents abortions, lowers the rate of teen pregnancies, improves the health of infants and mothers, and leads to happier, more stable marriages and less domestic violence. Why, it can even be included in a deficit-reduction package, since it demonstrably saves public dollars. All of these outcomes match neatly into what not too long ago was part of the conservative social agenda. Truly, it should be part of everyone’s agenda — everyone, that is, who is serious about improving society in general, and the lives of women and children in particular.
If reducing abortion is such a serious goal, then wouldn’t the contraception option be an attractive choice, more attractive than the legal challenges and social bullying that are employed today?
But contraception is not cheap, as any woman on the birth control pill can attest. That is why insurance coverage is so essential. It also makes obvious financial sense: Every dollar invested by the government for contraception saves $3.74 in Medicaid expenditures for pregnancy-related care for births from unintended pregnancies, according to the Guttmacher report.
So, let’s recap. If we were constructing a society that genuinely wanted to foster stable marriages, safe families and healthy infants, while reducing the rate of abortion and teen pregnancy and even, perhaps, the federal budget deficit, why on earth would we delegitimize the use of contraception, the one tested, legal way to achieve those goals? Why would we not require access to something that so demonstrably benefits individuals and society? No one is forced to insert an IUD or go on the pill, but fairness only dictates that poor and working women have the same opportunity to avail themselves of contraception as, oh, the wives of presidential candidates.
more:http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/features-the-religion-world/2012/02/28/another-view-on-contraception-health-care-and-the-feds/
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