ÏEhr
lune I, 2011
^ortlanb (Db semer
Page 7
Family Planning is Essential to American Life
Women’s
healthcare is
under threat
by
C lark C oleman
If you’re an average
woman, you want two
children, according to
various surveys. That
m eans y o u ’ll spend
about five years of your
life trying to become
pregnant, being preg­
nant or recovering from pregnancy,
and 30 years trying to avoid it.
You can do that thanks to the
June 1965 landmark Supreme Court
decision Griswold v. Connecticut,
which affirmed the right of married
couples to use contraceptives --
and more importantly, recognized
an individual's right to privacy in
family planning matters. Universal
usage and acceptance of contra­
ceptives followed, transforming the
lives of millions of Americans.
The Griswold case was a catalyst
for our national fami ly planning pro­
gram - Title X of the Public Health
Service Act - the only dedicated
source of federal funding for family
planning services. Created in 1970,
Title X provides access to family
planning for all, without regard to
economic circumstances.
Today, contraceptives are an
important part of family life in
America - so much so that 98 per­
cent of us have used birth control at
some point in our lives, and we
mostly take it for granted.
We shouldn’t. During
the recent battle in Con­
gress over funding the
government, the House of
Representatives voted to
eliminate Title X. Oppo­
nents of family planning
used a mixture of misinfor-
Title X funds 4,500 nonprofit-
and government-run sites nation­
wide: most are county and local
health departments. The rest are
hospitals, family planning councils
and other private nonprofit agen­
cies. These agencies are required to
provide preventive and primary
health care services including pel­
vic exams and Pap tests; pregnancy
testing; screening for high blood
pressure, anemia, diabetes and cer­
vical and breast cancer, and for sexu­
ally transmitted infections includ­
Seventeen million people need some
assistance in order to get this important
care, but today, Title X is funded to cover
just over five million o f those in need.
mation and innuendo to entangle
family planning in their anti-abor­
tion war, ignoring the fact that Title
X saves the government some $3.4
billion every year by preventing un­
intended pregnancies, nearly half
of which would likely have ended in
abortion.
The Senate saved the program,
but another attempt to kill Title X is
certain this year. When it comes,
Americans must recognize that ac­
cess to basic primary and preven­
tive care is being threatened.
ing HIV; basic infertility services;
health education; and referrals for
other health and social services — as
well as contraceptives and counsel­
ing about them.
These are the facts of life: Ac­
cording to new Guttmacher Insti­
tute research, unintended preg­
nancy costs U.S. taxpayers approxi­
mately $11 billion a year. Without
publicly funded family planning
services, these costs would be 60
percent higher. In 2008, services at
Title X centers helped prevent
973,000 unintended pregnancies
that would likely have resulted in
432,600births and406,200abortions.
The centers also performed 2.2 mil­
lion Pap tests, 5.9 million STI tests
and a million confidential HIV tests
in 2009 alone.
Seventeen million people need
some assistance in order to get this
important care, but today. Title X is
funded to cover just over five mil­
lion of those in need. There are
always more patients than subsi­
dies. Seventy percent of the indi­
viduals seen at Title X-funded health
centers have incomes at or below
the federal poverty level - meaning
they earn less than $ 10,830 per year.
Many of them are working young
adults, living paycheck to paycheck.
They count down the days until
they get paid and are just one unex­
pected problem from disaster — if
the car engine light comes on; the
childcare center raises its fees; or
their hours are cut.
Six in ten women who get care
from Title X consider it their usual
source of health care, and for many
it is their only source. Patients un­
der the federal poverty level receive
services at no cost to them; those
Readers
of all ages
End Discrimination on Ex-Offenders
by
J udge G reg M athis
When pundits discuss
America’s still too high
unemployment rate, they
usually tell stories of indi­
viduals with impressive
work histories and college
degrees who are having a
hard time finding a job after being
downsized. Or, they relate tales of
former manufacturing employees
lost in our new, more tech driven
economy.
Rarely does anyone share the
plight of the more than 65 million
Americans with some sort of crimi­
nal past who have a hard time find­
ing work.
We need to talk about this popu­
lation more often and come up with
solutions to help them secure em ­
ployment.
The reality is that more and
more people with crim inal histo­
ries are trying to enter the work
fo rce but fa ile d b a c k g ro u n d
checks keep thousands of people
from getting hired, some for of­
fenses that are decades old and as
m in o r as d iso rd e rly c o n d u ct,
I I
I I
drinking and having too
much fun in the street
with friends. Some of
those being denied work
have never been con­
victed of a crim e, only
arrested.
Every year, more than
700,000 people are released from
state and federal prisons: they all
need to find work so that they may
support themselves and their fami­
lies, contribute to their communities
and to ensure poverty, frustration
and desperation don’t force them to
return to a life of crime.
There are no federal laws that
protect individuals with a criminal
past from being discrim inated
against by employers.
The Equal Employment Oppor­
tunity Commission, however, does
suggest that employers take in ac­
count the severity of the offense,
the amount of time that has passed
since the crime was committed and
how the crime relates to the position
being applied for.
We need m ore than EEOC
guidelines. There has to be a con­
scious effort by the business com ­
munity to weed out practices that
discriminate against ex-offenders.
M ost accept that some with a
crim inal past will not be able to
work in certain sectors; for ex­
ample, a child predator cannot
work with children.
But there are countless other
positions this individual can hold
that won’t present a danger to soci­
ety. Employers also need to under­
stand that, just because someone
committed a crime once does not
mean they’ll do it again. In fact,
research shows that the farther back
the crime occurred, the less likely
the offender will be to repeat that
mistake.
Current hiring practices are lock­
ing millions out of the work force.
This discrimination not only hurts
the individuals in question, it dam­
ages America’s long-term economic
health. W e’re losing millions of
workers need to help keep our coun­
try moving forward.
Greg Mathis is a former Michigan
District Court judge and current
syndicated television show judge.
who make over $10,830 a year are
provided services on a sliding fee
scale according to income.
Although no patient is turned
away because of an inability to pay.
Title X actually saves money for the
government. Every dollar invested
in publicly funded family planning
averts nearly $4 in Medicaid costs.
Given its proven effectiveness, it
only makes sense that the Obama
administration should include con­
traceptives in the women's health
preventive services benefit under
the Affordable Care Act.
The Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention has cited family plan­
ning as one of the 10 great public
health achievements of the 20th
century, and Title X funding is es­
sential to our effort to prevent unin­
tended pregnancies and improve
public health while saving taxpay­
ers billions of dollars a year.
As the states struggle with grow­
ing budget shortfalls, continued
funding for Title X should be recog­
nized for what it is: an essential part
of America’s health care system.
Coleman is president and CEO
o f the National Family Planning &
Reproductive Health Association.
and all
walks
of life
• ■
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