Do you think this is true? Should women be more involved in healthcare reform because they are the medical decision makers in their family?

Image: Zuma Press

Post from: Blisstree

Women Crucial to Healthcare

I found the most interesting facts to be these two:

* The abortion rate is the lowest its been since Roe v. Wade in 1973, with 1.21 million in 2005.

* About 60% of abortions are obtained by women who have one or more children.

Unlike teenagers who only sought 17% of abortions, these women fully understand the responsibility and the cost of parenthood and family-life.

• Three-fourths of women cite concern for or responsibility to other individuals;
• Three-fourths say they cannot afford a child; three-fourths say that having a baby would interfere with work, school or the ability to care for dependents;
• Half say they do not want to be a single parent or are having problems with their husband or partner.

The key to preventing unwanted pregnancy and therefore preventing abortion is access to healthcare.

• Contraceptive non-use is greatest among those who are young, poor, black, Hispanic or less educated women.
• About half of unintended pregnancies occur among the 11% of women who are at risk for unintended pregnancy but are not using contraceptives.

That’s exactly the same demographic that currently has the least access to healthcare in America.

Compared with men, women are less likely to have employer-sponsored health care coverage because they are more likely to work part-time, on contract, or freelance and to take time out of the workforce to care for their children and their family members. They are also more likely to be covered as dependents on their spouses’ employer-sponsored health plans. As a result, women are more vulnerable to losing their coverage if they are widowed or divorced.

There are 21.5 million uninsured women and these are the same women who are most likely to seek an abortion because they have no access to healthcare. This statistic doesn’t even include women who carry only catastrophic insurance and therefore have to pay for all healthcare expenses on top of their high premiums. These women frequently can’t afford basic OB/GYN care, including contraception.

No one likes abortion. If the goal is to reduce the number of abortions in the United States then pro-lifers should jump on the opportunity to drastically reduce the number of lives lost by providing equal and affordable access to healthcare for women.

People who rate abortion as the most important issue in America, should consider the flip side. Let’s say you win. Roe v. Wade is overturned. The number of abortions won’t be zero. What about all the women who will inevitably seek an abortion illegally? Now we’re back to back-alley butchering of women.

The result is not only the death of babies, but the needless death of women and babies. We now know these women are mothers of other children and therefore the inevitable outcome is the death of women, the death of their fetuses and the orphaning of existing children. As a fellow Christian – I can’t see how that is better.

What’s changed about the pro-life vs. pr-choice debate? Access to healthcare for these disenfranchised women has never been on the table before. (This could also drastically reduce the cost of adoption for middle-class couples.)

If you truly want to prevent the nasty business of abortion – you should vote for healthcare. Not because you’re turning your back on your principles – but because it’s the most effective way to prevent abortion.

Post from: Blisstree

Stop Abortion Vote Healthcare!