Blogs Comment On Berwick Nomination, Birth Control Coverage, Other Topics

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs;  Pregnancy / Obstetrics;  Sexual Health / STDs
Article Date: 12 Jul 2010 - 2:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions  

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

~ "A Pregnant Woman Is Not a Meth Lab," Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, American Civil Liberties Union's "Blog of Rights": According to Kolbi-Molinas, more than 20 Alabama women have been prosecuted in the past four years "for no other reason than that they tried to continue their pregnancies while struggling with addiction." On Tuesday, ACLU and ACLU of Alabama submitted a friend-of-the-court brief to an Alabama appeals court urging the reversal of a conviction for violating a law that "makes it a crime to allow children into houses where meth labs are operated," she reports. The woman "was prosecuted not because she brought a child into a meth lab, but because she tried to continue her pregnancy and give birth to her son, even though she was suffering from a drug dependency." Kolbi-Molinas continues, "No one is suggesting that drugs are good for embryos or fetuses," but "do we really want to make a pregnant woman's behavior and choices, any health condition she suffers, or even that she lacks health insurance, a crime because it could hurt the fetus?" According to Kolbi-Molinas, "If we do, then virtually everything a pregnant woman does or does not do could land her in jail, because virtually everything a pregnant woman does or does not do -- from what she eats, where she works, and what condition her health was in before she became pregnant -- is going to have an effect on her fetus." The American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and other medical organizations "have long opposed these sorts of prosecutions because they only undermine the health of moms and babies," she adds (Kolbi-Molina, "Blog of Rights," ACLU, 7/6).

~ "The Conservative Case for Don Berwick," Ezra Klein, Washington Post's "Voices": "If not for health care reform, Don Berwick's nomination to head [CMS] would not be so controversial," according to Klein. "But conservatives are making a serious mistake by forcing the administration to rely on a recess appointment for Berwick" because "[u]ltimately, what weakens Berwick weakens them, as Berwick, whether they know it or not, is one of the best friends they could have in the administration," he writes. Klein continues, "Insofar as Berwick is a radical, he's a radical in believing that vastly more power has to be devolved to the judgments, preferences and desires of patients," a view that is "traditionally associated with conservatives, not liberals." He adds, "Liberals tend to believe that the doctor is, and should be, the primary decision maker, and so the way to reduce costs across the health care system is to change the doctor's incentives, give her more information about the efficacy of treatments, give her fewer financial incentives to err on the side of expensive interventions rather than watchful waiting." Berwick "believes the focus should be on giving the patient the information, incentives and ability to make their own decisions in consultation with their doctor," according to Klein. "The reality of the situation is that Barack Obama just put an advocate for a patient-centered health-care system in charge of much of health-care reform," but "[c]onservatives have scored a big win here, even if they don't know it yet," Klein writes (Klein, "Voices," Washington Post, 7/7).

~ "MDGs: The Millennium Development ... Guys?" Jodi Jacobson, RH Reality Check: Considering the enumerable challenges women face around the world, "it would seem that appointments to a recently convened United Nations High-Level Advocacy Group focused on pushing for progress on the Millennium Developments Goals would take pains to put high-level women in charge ... of advocating for maternal health, child health," HIV/AIDS or economic development, Jacobson writes. However, "[s]omeone, somewhere, did not get the memo," as a list of individuals dated July 1 "indicates that not one woman has been assigned" to the three MDGs dealing with child mortality, maternal health, and HIV/AIDS and malaria, she continues. Jacobson writes, "The bottom line is this: We cannot solve problems if we cannot talk about real life." It is "clear ... that if women with legitimacy in the women's movement and as social justice and health advocates were leading this effort, many more salient issues would be on the table, including, but not limited to, safe abortion services and maternal mortality," she argues. "It's time for women to take the reins on these issues and lead, without apology," Jacobson says, concluding that "it is time to hold the leadership of the U.N. and others accountable for putting their own rhetoric into practice" (Jacobson, RH Reality Check, 7/7).

~ "Should Birth Control Be Covered?" Tracy Clark-Flory, Salon's "Broadsheet": An amendment "tucked away" in the federal health reform law (PL 111-148) that requires insurance plans to cover the entire cost of women's preventive care could make birth control "free for all -- maybe, possibly, someday," Clark-Flory writes. She continues that it is "yet to be decided whether birth control will be one of those services" covered under the amendment, and "experts say it's unlikely a decision will be reached by late September, when the rule goes into effect." The "amendment focused specifically on contraception," but the conversation during the health reform debate "nonetheless turned to Planned Parenthood and the possibility of required coverage for abortions," Clark-Flory writes. Although birth control is "obviously preventive," many antiabortion-rights advocates argue that methods that "can prevent a fertilized egg from implanting are actually abortifacients," which "all goes back to that niggling question of when exactly life begins," she continues. "So, while I can't guarantee that the ... amendment will bring about contraceptive coverage, I can promise that the impending political debate is going to be such a headache that it'll be its own form of free birth control" (Clark-Flory, "Broadsheet," Salon, 7/6).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families.

© 2010 National Partnership for Women & Families. All rights reserved.

• Additional
• References
• Citations