What happens when a Red-state passes anti-choice laws?

[ChicanoPwr]

Just recently the Houston Chronicle (my local paper did something good, wow), reported the results of the two Texas laws (enacted in 1999) that limit a young women's access to reproductive health care; the findings show proof how disastrous our nation will become in the up-coming years. The laws, which cost taxpayers $44 million, have resulted in more than 1,600 additional abortions and have left thousands of teens with untreated cases of STDs.

Study: Teen safe-sex laws are costly
Rules restricting teen girls' options for health care cost an estimated $44 million a year
By ERIC BERGER Houston Chronicle

Two laws in Texas that limit teenagers' ability to confidentially obtain reproductive health care cost $44 million a year largely because of additional pregnancies, local researchers have found.

The laws were passed by the Texas Legislature in 1999 but only recently enforced.

One requires teens younger than 18 to obtain parental consent before receiving prescription contraceptives, and the other requires health care providers to report to law enforcement agencies the identity of patients younger than 17 who they think are sexually active

"Sometimes legislators pass laws with a certain intent, but sometimes these laws have unintended consequences," said Luisa Franzini, an economist at the University of Texas School of Public Health at Houston and the lead author of a study published this month in Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.

"In this case, the result is poor reproductive health for teens and increased costs for the state of Texas."

The laws were attached as "riders" to appropriations bills in 1999, and have been renewed during every legislative session. State Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, who sponsored the riders, did not respond to requests for comment on the study (chicken-shit bastard).

<snip>

Supporters of restrictions on teen access to contraceptives say the issue is not one of costs, but whether parents should know what is happening in their children's lives.

"Whatever the cost, if these laws force even a few teenagers (basicly, screw the majority) to talk to their parents about these issues, then they're worth it," said James Sedlak, vice president of the American Life League, an anti-abortion group.

"If a young girl is afraid to talk to her parents about using contraceptives, then she knows she's doing something wrong."

The researchers estimated that 37 percent of girls who used reproductive health care services would stop doing so because of the parental notification requirements.

As a result, Franzini and her colleagues calculated that more than 8,000 additional pregnancies would occur annually among Texas adolescents. Because of prenatal costs, births and abortions, the total cost was nearly $44 million.

Locally, Planned Parenthood noticed a chilling effect almost immediately after enforcement of the laws, McGill said. The number of visits by minors in the second half of 2003, compared with 2002, dropped by 30 percent.

An earlier study found that nearly 50 percent of adolescents surveyed would not seek contraceptives from a health care clinic if their parents had to know about it.

<snip>

A number of physician groups, including American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, have urged policy-makers to ensure that sexually active, young patients have confidential access to health care and counseling.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2953109

[Coyul]

1. The Law is suspended as unconstitutional upon appeal...

...then it is appealed through all the courts until the US Supreme court makes a decision.....that's the scary part...it's up to them to make that decision, and they don't seem particularly good at making a correct one often.

[rkc3]

2. Their defense of these laws is:

"Supporters of restrictions on teen access to contraceptives say the issue is not one of costs, but whether parents should know what is happening in their children's lives."

Here's an idea - talk to your kids instead of watching Survivor. Maybe you'll learn a little about what they're up to. And maybe they'll learn a little about how to take care of themselves from someone who was once a teenager.

What am I thinking. It's easier to legislate responsibility than to actually take it.

[gtp1976]

26. is it okay,

if I talk to our kids while watching Survivor? Maybe during the commercials? Or I guess I could tivo it, talk to them when it would normally be on then watch it later but that seems like a lot of trouble. I mean, the two shouldn't be mutually exclusive should they? :-)

[Name removed]

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[Bandit]

5. Love it or leave it...eh

I would expect that logic from a Republican but not from a caring person.

[Name removed]

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[Sparkly]

8. How does that work for teenagers? n/t

[Name removed]

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[Sparkly]

12. Read the article

One requires teens younger than 18 to obtain parental consent before receiving prescription contraceptives, and the other requires health care providers to report to law enforcement agencies the identity of patients younger than 17 who they think are sexually active.

That covers 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17. If they couldn't get approval from their parents for contraception, and couldn't get an abortion, would they have a bright future as pregnant runaways in a different state?

In other words, your choice to simply move isn't an option for the people we're talking about -- teenagers.

[Name removed]

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[Sparkly]

14. "Appropriate choices"

If you can find a way to make all teenagers make appropriate choices, you've got something parents have been seeking since time began, imo. In other words, it isn't gonna happen.

Moreover, many teenagers are victims of sexual abuse within their own families. Rape is real, too.

Curtailing options for birth control as well as abortion is not helpful at ALL, to say the least.

[Name removed]

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[Sparkly]

18. That doesn't always work

A parent or step-parent is sometimes the one who made the inappropriate choice to sexually abuse the teenager.

Moreover, birth control is an appropriate choice for people who are sexually active and don't want to get pregnant, but parents might make the inappropriate choice of saying "no" thinking abstinence will happen as a result.

Finally, "propriety" takes a backseat to "reality" when it comes to teenagers' comfort in telling their parents about their sex lives. It makes sense that more would use birth control when it's available to them confidentially, and few will use it when they have to ask their parents.

[beyurslf]

4. There are so many things wrong with the logic used here....

"If a girl is afraid to talk to her parents its because she knows she's doingsomething wrong"?
How about she is afraid because she maniacal parents who use fear and intidmidation to force her to do what they want. Maybe she is afraid of the abusive hand that she has witnessed being used against her and her mother. Maybe she doesn't have parents who give a damn or are around.
And why would stopping a kid who wants birth control from getting it actually stop her from having sex? We should applaud a teen who is responsible enough to make that choice.

[TN al]

7. When I lived in Colorado...

...I used to listen to KOA radio. Mike Rosen used to make fun of liberals by saying in a mocking voice "if it saves just one life it will be worth it" Doesn't this statement sound like what Rosen was mocking?
"Whatever the cost, if these laws force even a few teenagers to talk to their parents about these issues, then they're worth it," said James Sedlak, vice president of the American Life League, an anti-abortion group.
I haven't listened to Rosen in a few years has he stopped mocking people in this manner or is this just another case of the repugs changing their tune to fit the situation at hand a la Orrin Hatch and Tom DeLay?

[ChicanoPwr]

9. Scary stats.

Consequences of two new laws that limit confidentiality of teens trying to obtain reproductive health care in Texas:

- 8,265 additional pregnancies
- 5,372 additional births
- 1,654 additional abortions
- 2,243 untreated chlamydia cases
- 521 untreated gonorrhea cases

Source: Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine

I work at a non-profit agency. We would to go the the schools and teach kids about HIV/STDS and we have been doing this for over 15 years. Well guess what our Christmas present was? Bastards at the CDC using the city's public health agency as their mouth piece decided not to fund us again and costing us two employees.

This what the CDC wants us to do for community outreach. This what the program calls for, a health educator convenes a groups of four to eight clients in a room that allows privacy for discussion. The program is a one-time 45 minute intervention. Sounds good, but that is how they sell it. Buyer beware!!!

Here is how you really work the program. You get your group of 4 to 8. There is no discussion, the health educator suppose to show them a video, and here is the catch, the video is 45 mins. So there is no true discussion on information on HIV risk behaviors and condom use. Everything is delivered in one 45 min video then give them some condoms and send them on their way. Oh yeah, this program is meant for minorities, African American and Hispanic adults. I guess minorities fall one the last letter, C, of The Chimp's ABC Plan for teaching HIV/AIDS education.

You know
A= Always Abstain;
B= Be faithful to each other; and
C= If you can not do both, always use a Condom.

[Not_Giving_Up]

10. WHAT????

"One requires teens younger than 18 to obtain parental consent before receiving prescription contraceptives, and the other requires health care providers to report to law enforcement agencies the identity of patients younger than 17 who they think are sexually active."

SO, if you are a teenager, having sex with anyone, including another teenager, it gets reported to the cops? I knew they required parental consent for birth control (which is bullshit), but I had no idea that HPD had nothing better to do than bust teens having (responsible) sex. Guess they squeeze that in between busting people in KMart parking lots and screwing up evidence in the crime lab.

[ChicanoPwr]

30. I hope the new police chief

can make sure HPD will not waste their time on this. Come on, What the teens going to say when they ask have you ever been arrested on a college application. Yes. Why: I went to get a condom. How sad.

[Pathwalker]

15. When abortions are illegal, abortions don't stop AT ALL.

The rich women just get a holiday in Yurop, the middle-class women get a junket to Canada, and the poor women get back alley abortions, and many poor women will die. See how nicely that works?

[ChicanoPwr]

17. It works well

It works well to control the poor.

[Pathwalker]

21. And that IS the real goal, after all.

The poor are expendable. In a world of dwindling resources, they are the ones who must be destroyed first, to save it for the rich...er - worthy.

[ChicanoPwr]

22. Then my friend

We must become the voice for voiceless.



There can be hope only for a society which acts as one big family, not as many separate ones.
Anwar Sadat
Egyptian President

[Ilsa]

19. As one licensed to provide a limited degree of health care

in Texas, the thought of having to report a minor to authorities for possibly having sex is completely unethical. Patients of all ages require and deserve privacy. Breaching that trust causes people to mistrust their health care providers, which can be dangerous to their health.

[noiretextatique]

20. a shameful and irresponsible abuse of power eom

[qwlauren35]

23. VERY Misleading Article!

Has an extra $44 million been spent? Or is the extra $44 million an ESTIMATE on something that has not yet occurred?

Don't get me wrong - I think such laws are a cowardly attempt by conservative parents to get the government to rein in their kids after they have FAILED to instill conservative values in them...

(Children of "liberal" parents should have NO trouble discussing sex or contraceptives... or else those parents have ALSO failed...)

The irony of such laws is that they potentially harm the conservative kids the most...

But we will need data before jumping to real conclusions.

[disconnected]

24. oh geez

I had decent parents and still didn't want to talk about my sex life with them...my mom was a pro life christian and i just didn't feel comfortable with talking abot sex with my dad.
Had I had access to birth control pills and counseling, I prbably wouldn't have ended up pregnant at 15.
And you know the first person who suggested an abortion to me was my mother...
It seems to me too many parents don't want to face the truth that children from birth are sexual beings and that if you want them to talk to you about sex, you start out taking to them about it in small doses from birth on.

[noiretextatique]

25. the law was passed in 1999, but not enforced until 2003

i think it's pretty clear that the number is an estimate of actual 2003 costs, based on the information below.

"researchers estimated that 37 percent of girls who used reproductive health care services would stop doing so because of the parental notification requirements.
As a result, Franzini and her colleagues calculated that more than 8,000 additional pregnancies would occur annually among Texas adolescents. Because of prenatal costs, births and abortions, the total cost was nearly $44 million."

[ChicanoPwr]

27. NOT a Misleading Article!!

ADDITIONAL UNINTENDED TEEN PREGNANCIES
Reporting and consent requirements were estimated to result in an additional 11.45 pregnancies, 7.44 births, and 2.29 abortions per 100 teenagers currently receiving reproductive health care services. The cost of the additional births and abortions was estimated at $60,952 per 100 teenagers. Among Texas girls younger than 18 years currently receiving publicly funded reproductive health services, an estimated 5,372 additional births and 1,654 additional abortions cost $44,007,000.

ADDITIONAL UNTREATED STIs

Among 100 adolescent girls, an estimated 3.11 additional untreated cases of chlamydia infection and 0.72 additional untreated cases of gonorrhea, leading to 0.69 additional cases of PID, would result from reporting and consent requirements. The net cost of untreated STI in 100 girls was estimated at $980. Among girls younger than 18 years receiving publicly funded reproductive health services, an estimated 2,243 additional cases of untreated chlamydia infection and 521 additional cases of untreated gonorrhea resulted in 501 additional cases of PID, with a net cost of $708,000.

SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS
In univariate sensitivity analyses, relative to the base-case scenario, unintended pregnancies and their associated costs decreased by 72% in the best-case scenario (reduction in service use by 10%) and increased by 28% in the worst-case scenario (reduction in service use by 47%). The number of additional cases of PID and the costs of untreated STI had a similar range in those scenarios. The lower prevalence of chlamydia infection in health maintenance organization settings reduced the number of untreated cases and the associated costs by more than half. Costs of untreated STI were particularly sensitive to the probability of progression to PID (tripling in the high-probability scenario) and the costs of PID (reduced by about a third in the low-cost scenario and doubling in the high-cost scenario). Variation in the screening and treatment costs had smaller effects on the costs of untreated STI. The lower cost of an annual visit increased total projected costs to $44.3 million.

http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/158/12/1140#POA40019T2

[sandnsea]

28. Reporting sex to law enforcement???

What is that part about? It's one thing to report sexual abuse to law enforcement, but they're reporting TEEN SEX????? Did I read that right?

[ChicanoPwr]

29. Welcome to my Red State

[Orangepeel]

31. What happens? Usually nothing. Roe v Wade allows many such laws

I'm not a lawyer, but as I understand the decision, states are allowed to restrict abortion after the first trimester, as long as provisions are in place to allow for abortion to protect the health of the woman. Parental notification is also constitutional, as long as there are safeguards that allow for judicial waivers in abusive situations.

Of course, what constitutes appropriate safeguards in terms of health and protection of minors is subject to interpretation.

[Moderator]

32. ChicanoPwr

Per DU copyright rules
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DU Moderator

[Sirveri]

33. I'm curious, how are they managing to enforce this law?

I mean, I know if I was a doctor I certainly wouldn't enforce this law. You had sex... you want condoms or birth control? You know about AIDS? Yeah I'm suppossed to get parental consent before I give you birth control, so do me a favor and forge their signature right here... Awesome... OK here you go, use a condom and don't get pregnant and try not to go apeshit and fuck everything that moves, you'll thank yourself in the morning.