Blogs Comment On Family Planning Provision In Stimulus Package, Female Condoms

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Also Included In: Sexual Health / STDs;  Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 28 Jan 2009 - 3:00 PDT

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The following summarizes selected women's health-related blog entries.

~ "Stimulus: Promoting Birth Control, Not Self-Control," Tony Perkins, Washington Update: Perkins -- president of the Family Research Council -- writes about comments made Sunday on ABC'S "This Week" by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in regard to a provision in the proposed economic stimulus package that would allow states to expand eligibility for Medicaid family planning services. According to Perkins, what Pelosi said is that "[i]n other words, children are a burden to the economy, and [she] believes it's the government's responsibility to eliminate them." Pelosi's comments "underscore the shortsightedness of these liberal policies," Perkins continues, adding that although the birth rate in the U.S. "isn't plunging like that of European countries, it has slowed." The U.S. birth rate is "hovering at its replacement level," and if "Pelosi and her Congress continue to deemphasize the family, America will travel even farther down the deadly path of our European friends," he concludes (Perkins, Washington Update, 1/26).

~ "Et tu, Barack?" Cristina Page, Birth Control Watch: An Associated Press report that President Obama wants to remove a provision in the proposed economic stimulus package that would give state Medicaid programs more flexibility "comes at the end of a day in which anti-contraceptive forces used distortion to whip the media into frenzy over it," Page writes. The Medicaid Family Planning State Option "extends the safety net health care coverage for millions who are losing their jobs and health insurance in the economic downturn," she says. According to Page, the provision "not only helps states extend coverage, it generates savings for states and the federal government in the near-term, allowing them to spend the savings on other pressing state and national priorities during these tough economic times." She continues that the news that Obama might drop the provision "comes at the heels of two important acts to improve contractive access for women living in other countries," the reversal of the "Mexico City" policy, or "global gag rule," and the restoration of U.S. funding to the United Nations Population Fund. "American women, however, may not be so lucky," Page writes. She concludes that if the "anti-contraception forces are able to use distortion and harness a frothing media to convince Obama to jettison such a pragmatic and common sense solution, the next few years may be rockier than we thought" (Page, Birth Control Watch, 1/26).

~ "Caving on Contraception? Obama and House Democrats Say Maybe So," Amie Newman, RH Reality Check: President Obama's request to remove the Medicaid family planning provision from the proposed economic stimulus plan is "poor portend of what's to come," writes Newman. She says that the family planning funding provision "was not inserted into the package for convenience. It was put in the package because the provision of these services makes economic sense." She writes that the inclusion of the provision should not be controversial, "[u]nless, of course, we are still fighting anti-contraception forces." According to Newman, Republicans "erupted in confusion and anger" over the provision, including House Minority leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), who is "unaware, apparently, that access to family planning and contraception for women and their families decreases the rate of unplanned pregnancy, which saves literally billions of dollars in public funds" (Newman, RH Reality Check, 1/26).

~ "Expanding the Female Condom Market," Audacia Ray, Our Bodies, Our Blog: "Demand for newer and better devices that protect against pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections is constant," Ray of the International Women's Health Coalition writes. She adds that this is "partly due to the fact that the process of development, testing and approval takes forever, and partly because what's on the market often leaves something to be desired." The polyurethane female condom has "gotten a lot of mixed reviews" in the 15 years it has been available, Ray writes, noting that it is the "only barrier method available that is designed for female initiation, but it's three times as expensive as a male condom." Ray examines the various forms of the female condom in development, including the "new and improved" FC2, which "should be on the market in the United States within the next year." She also discusses two prototypes being tested in Africa: the latex VA w.o.w. Condom Feminine and a nitrile female condom developed by the company PATH (Ray, Our Bodies Our Blogs, 1/26).

~ "Boehner Gets it Wrong on Contraceptives, Stimulus," Cory Richards, RH Reality Check: Richards writes that he would "be happy to answer" the questions posed by Republican House Minority leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), who last week asked, "How can you spend hundreds of millions of dollars on contraceptives? How does that stimulate the economy?" Boehner made the comment in regard to a provision of the proposed economic stimulus package that would allow states to expand family planning services under Medicaid without permission from HHS. Richards writes that assisting states with Medicaid funding is a "proven and effective strategy for stimulating the economy in times of economic distress." He continues, "One can only assume that Rep. Boehner's singling out for criticism the Medicaid spending for contraception is politically motivated." Richards adds that Boehner's comments are "highly ironic coming from a self-described fiscal conservative," since an expansion of state funded family planning services could help states save money. Boehner's remarks were "doubly ironic" because the lawmaker is "adamantly" against abortion and publicly funded family planning services significantly reduce unintended pregnancies and abortions by providing contraception to women who use public clinics, according to Richards. He continues that the "inclusion of the Medicaid family planning provision in the economic stimulus bill is eminently justifiable" and a "classic anti-recession policy" that reduces unintended pregnancies and abortions without increasing the deficit. He concludes, "My question to Rep. Boehner is: What's not to like?" (Richards, RH Reality Check, 1/26).

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