April 22, 2011 - The Austin Chronicle's Jordan Smith writes a compelling and informative article on the "The War on Women's Health." The article details the Texas House stripping family-planning and reproductive health services of $62 million on April 1, 2011. Family-planning opponents seem to not acknowledge the fact you can be pro-life and still be pro-health. None of the funds taken away from family-planning were ever used to support abortions in the first place. These moneys instead went towards basic health care services for low-income women such as annual gynecological exams, counseling on pregnancy planning and access to birth control, screening for breast and cervical cancers, testing for hypertension and tuberculosis, and screening for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.
The article further discusses the implications of such a loss of funding for "women's wellness," the many ways organizations such as Planned Parenthood have supported women's health, and the irony of how decreasing family-planning will actually increase abortions. Smith sharply labels such conservative political policies as "The War on Women."
To me it seems to be The War on Poor Women. Amendments and bills refusing to fund the health of low-income women imply that women without financial resources are not important enough to keep healthy. The message subliminally broadcasted is that if you cannot afford reproductive-health services, you cannot afford to be sexually active. I wonder if conservatives realize how shortsighted policies like this are. Although the government may save tax dollars now, in time, when we have higher cancer, STD, and unwanted pregnancy rates the government will pay tenfold.
No comments:
Post a Comment