How High Unemployment, Pregnant Teens and Unwed Mothers Make the Case for National Health Insurance

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
by Meg White

A new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Care Statistics shows that 2007 was a record-setting year when it comes to American births. Not only did we beat out the apex of the baby boom in terms of sheer birthrate, but also we hit a record with births to unwed mothers at a whopping 40 percent. Furthermore, teen pregnancies increased for the second year in a row after a long period of decline throughout the '90s and early part of this decade.

Whenever this sort of study comes out, it becomes immediately politicized. Social conservatives will blame liberals, the media and Jamie Lynn Spears (though not Bristol Palin). Liberals will blame social conservatives for demonizing sex and advocating abstinence.

Honestly, I'm betting all of the above play a role. But there's precious little concrete action that we can take on those divisive social issues. There is one thing we can do immediately to stem the tide not only of out-of-wedlock children and teen pregnancies, but also of sickly mothers and children: Provide adequate healthcare to all.

Why do you think the United States has the highest rates of teen pregnancy, birth, and abortion of any industrialized nation? There's no way healthcare and prescription costs do not play a role here.

According to U.S. Census data, both the number of uninsured and the rate of uninsured people in the U.S. increased steadily from 2000 to 2006. Both numbers decreased slightly in 2007. The Census estimates that the majority of people who are insured receive coverage through their workplace. As I just noted, the amount of insured people increased in 2007. However, the amount of private insurance available via the workplace dropped. There's only one reason more people were insured in 2007 than 2006: government healthcare expansion.

Combining the job losses in 2008 with those expected this year, we cannot afford to wait on a national healthcare plan.

Just having a job that provides benefits doesn't necessarily mean reproductive needs are covered, however. While American women have made great strides in the past decade in getting access to contraception and the whole contraception vs. Viagra debate was clearly blown out of proportion, the fact remains that 14 percent of private health insurance plans do not cover the basic need of contraception.

Consider the 2007 appellate court decision that ruled that the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 did not compel a company to offer contraceptive coverage unless the contraceptives were prescribed for something other than contraception, such as treating skin problems.

So, what have we learned about reproductive health today? Apparently, clear skin is more important than protection against unwanted pregnancy. Too bad it doesn't pay off in the form of lower overall healthcare burden for the entire country, such as proactive reproductive care can.

Even government-subsided reproductive care has taken a hit recently. When you factor in the effects of the 2005 Deficit Reduction Act on the costs of contraception for college students and other low-income women, the access problem grows dramatically. Women who once paid $5 to $10 a month for birth control now pay up to $50 a month for the same medication.

Of course, few elected officials are willing to make the connection between rising birth rates and lack of access to healthcare because conservatives automatically assume one is pushing for federally funded abortions. In reality, abortion rates figure little into the results of the CDC study, as this New York Times story makes clear:

Teenage abortion rates have been falling for years and are not believed to be a major factor in the birth trends. "The decline resulted from less sex and more contraception," [Sarah S. Brown, chief executive of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy] said. "So the new trend must involve some combination of more sex and less contraception."

The scariest thing is that, judging from Brown's analysis, these record-breaking numbers are only the beginning. This recession surely means a decrease in costly insurance plans (and thus contraception) and likely an increase in one of the cheapest forms of entertainment available: sex.

But logic doesn't preclude abortion and contraception from being useful red herrings for the right wing. With conservatives doing everything they can to make sure President Barack Obama's healthcare initiative fails, you better believe they're going to use America's squeamishness about discussing sex to do so.

Just like they successfully defeated the sensible but easily maligned idea to subsidize states' family planning programs with stimulus money, Republicans will transform Obama's proposal into an "abortion for every unwed teen mother's pot" in the media.

I just hope the American people see through that nonsensical, knee-jerk argument. It's like using the Octo-Mom in a public service announcement promoting abstinence. 

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS

Image courtesy of Dizznbonn.

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