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| Increase services that prevent unintended pregnancy. |
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Millions of women in the U.S. remain at risk for unintended pregnancy simply because
they don't have access to the vital reproductive health services that could help them
plan whether and when to have children. Without existing family planning programs, the
unintended pregnancy rate would be even higher. According to a 1997 poll, 76% of Americans
support access to federal and state family planning, while 74% favor increased public funding
for family planning services to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies. Yet funding for
these services is under attack.
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Strengthen international family planning programs
For three decades, the U.S. government has been a world leader in the
effort to improve the quality of life through family planning.
That effort is now being challenged despite the fact that millions of couples in
developing nations still need better access to contraception and reproductive health services.
Within 48 hours of assuming the Presidency, George W. Bush reinstated the Global Gag Rule,
originally introduced under the Reagan administration.
The Gag Rule prevents family planning providers overseas from getting any U.S. funding unless
they agree not to counsel, refer or even talk about abortion-even with their own funds,
and even though U.S. law already prohibits U.S. family planning funding from being used for abortion.
For more information view Save Roe
Guarantee equity in insurance coverage for family planning
From health plan to health plan, there is a great disparity in insurance
coverage for contraception. The vast majority of plans include a broad
range of prescription drugs, but far too few of them cover prescription contraceptives.
While insurance companies pushed to cover Viagra ®, more insurance companies
exclude birth control methods from their prescription plans. Less than 1/3 of
insurance companies cover all five methods of contraception.
Nearly 1/4 of insurance companies in Pennsylvania do not cover any of the five
most commonly used methods. Whereas, 75% of the population favors requiring insurance
companies to cover these five methods of contraception.
For more information view Cover My Pills (www.covermypills.org)
Make improved contraceptive methods more widely available
Many people are not satisfied with the methods of contraception now available.
Private and public research into better contraceptive technology is long overdue.
While Emergency Contraception, or the so-called "morning after pill,"
does exist, health care providers need information and training so that they can discuss it
with their patients, and women must be educated to ask for it
Emergency Contraception
decreases the rate of unintended pregnancy and lessens the need for abortion.
Offer every teenager honest, responsible sexuality education and pregnancy prevention programs
While adults debate whether to talk to teens
about how to avoid pregnancy and STDs, teens continue to engage in risky
sexual behavior. It is essential that we teach teens how to abstain from sex - along with
facts about contraception, reproductive health, and decision-making. In the U.S., millions
of tax dollars are spent each year to teach abstinence alone, and no federal program exists
to promote responsible sexuality education.
For more information view the Surgeon Generals Report:
Call to Action to Promote Sexual Health and Responsible Sexual Behavior
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