Poverty Underscores Need for Reform
9/21/09
by Sarah Stoesz
President and CEO
Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota
As a safety net provider to some of the region’s most economically vulnerable women and families, I’m always looking for ways to raise awareness of the need for affordable, accessible health care. So when the U.S. Census Bureau released its annual poverty numbers, it presented a natural opportunity to weigh in on the inequities facing many of the women Planned Parenthood serves.
The numbers from the report were grim.
Right here in Minnesota, incomes are dropping and poverty rates are increasing. The Pioneer Press's Jeremy Olson writes: "Household median income in the state dropped from $59,900 in the two-year period ending in 2006 to $57,600 in the two-year period ending in 2008"; meanwhile, the state's poverty rate "increased from 8.1 percent to 9.6 percent during those same periods."
But the picture appears to be worse than the data alone suggests. The Center for American Progress explains that while these numbers are alarming, they may not be a fully accurate depiction of the depth of poverty in Minnesota and across the U.S. Why? The numbers were compiled in 2008 and don’t reflect the current slump in the economy. Additionally, unemployment has gone up, workers are staying unemployed longer and food stamp requests are growing.
Read the entire story here.
Additionally, many experts say that the federal poverty guidelines are woefully out of date, with measures that have not been adjusted for more than forty years and based solely on food costs. So the true scope of poverty in the U.S. is likely much more profound than even the Census report shows.
Planned Parenthood knows firsthand the effect the economic downturn and job loss have had on women across our region. We see women who have lost jobs and the insurance coverage that they rely upon putting off much- needed health care, women who are worried about being laid off opting for longer-term birth control and scrimping to afford the basic health care that many of us take for granted.
Consider this:
- In 2007, one-quarter (25%) of women reported delaying or skipping health care because of cost.
- Uninsured women are at least two times more likely than insured women to not fill a prescription due to cost.
- Uninsured women are more than twice as likely as those with insurance to have not received a pap test in the last year.
The plain truth is that economic status should not determine a woman’s health or her fate. The disparities experienced by uninsured women are intolerable.
The Census report highlights the need for meaningful health care reform. As Congress prepares to tackle the issue, they must address the needs of women. True health care reform must include access to affordable health care services for all women, including comprehensive reproductive health care, regardless of income. It must include coverage for basic, preventive health care and protections for trusted safety net providers on whom women depend for their care, particularly given the shortage of primary care providers in rural communities.
Health care reform can help level the playing field for women who have been overlooked for too long. Simply put, women must not be left out of the most important public policy discussion of a generation. As a leading provider of health care for women and families, we are committed to making certain their voices are heard.
All women must have access to the health care they need to build healthier, brighter futures regardless of the ability to pay. It’s a core principal that defines Planned Parenthood and drives our work in communities across the region. And it’s a conversation we intend to continue during what may be the most important public policy discussion of our time.
Health care reform must address health care challenges faced by rural women
8/26/09
by Sarah Stoesz
President and CEO
Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota
“I can’t fill my prescription because I have to buy groceries.” One needs only to spend a day in any one of our health care centers to hear stories just like this and to see the need for meaningful health care reform.
Many of the women and families Planned Parenthood serves simply don’t have private insurance. And as a result of the economic downturn, more women who have lost their jobs and their insurance benefits are turning to us for preventative, primary health care.
Nowhere is the need for health care reform more evident than in rural Minnesota. Poverty, lack of insurance and limited access to health care combines to result in poorer outcomes for Minnesota’s rural women, especially when it comes to reproductive health.
Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota released a new report today that highlights the state of rural women’s health and calls attention to the challenges facing women in greater Minnesota. Download the pdf here.
More than half of our 64,000 patients live at or below the federal poverty level. In our 16 Greater Minnesota clinics, the number of patients living in poverty jumps to 63%. Further, nearly 40% of rural Minnesotans live in communities without adequate access to needed primary care services
Geography and economic status should not determine a woman’s health or her fate. And the disparities experienced by rural women in Minnesota are intolerable. Today, we call on lawmakers to focus on the needs of rural women as they return to Washington D.C. to continue their important work on health care reform.
Consider the facts from numerous state based studies (pdf):
For many rural women, access to health care is limited at best, with more than half of Minnesota’s rural counties designated as health professional shortage areas due to an inadequate number of primary care providers.
Fewer rural women receive recommended, preventive gynecological care, including mammograms, breast and cervical cancer screenings and colorectal cancer screening than do their urban peers.
In Minnesota, rural women are 30% more likely to be diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer than are women living in metropolitan areas. Rural Minnesota women are also more likely to be diagnosed at an older age, and at a later stage of the disease, when treatment options may be less successful.
In order for health care reform to address the needs of rural women, it must include access to affordable health care services for all women, including comprehensive reproductive health care, regardless of income. It must include coverage for basic, preventive health care and protections for trusted safety net providers on whom women depend for their care, particularly given the shortage of primary care providers in rural communities.
Health care reform can help level the playing field for women who have been overlooked for too long. Rural women must not be left out of the most important public policy discussion of a generation. And as a leading provider of health care for rural women and families, we are committed to making certain their voices are heard.
Learn more about Rural Women’s health—download the report.
8/14/09
Speaking up for women’s health at public health round table
by Sarah Stoesz
President and CEO
Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota
Last week U. S. Senator Al Franken hosted a round table discussion with Minnesota’s public health community. I was proud to join with my colleagues in public health to discuss the poor state of health care in America.
The group included representatives from county public health agencies, as well as the Medical associations, the U of M School of Public Health, Minnesota chapter of National Alliance on Mental Illness, MN Institute of Public Health, Open Cities Health Center, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwa, Minnesota Public Health Association, American Heart Association and a number of others.
Senator Franken led us in a meaningful discussion about health care reform that is based on equity and access for all. There is no doubt that Senator Franken will be a champion for the public health needs of our state as he works with his colleagues to fashion health care reform policy in America.
I shared some of my experiences as CEO of Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota. We at Planned Parenthood are keenly aware that without access to reproductive health care, specifically birth control, women have little hope of escaping poverty. Direct access to reproductive health care is both a wellness and a justice issue.
PPMNS’ biggest concern is that women’s health be kept front and center throughout the health care reform discussion. Our nation’s current patchwork system leaves nearly 1 in 5 young women uninsured. They are at a significant disadvantage.
• Compared with men, women require more medical services, have higher out-of-pocket medical costs and lower average incomes.
• Women are less likely than men to be insured through their jobs (39 % v. 49%) and more likely to rely on public programs.
• Women are more vulnerable to losing their insurance, if they become divorced or widowed, because they are more likely than men to be covered as dependents.
• More than half of women (52%) delay or avoiding needed care because of cost, compared with 30% of men.
• Women are more at risk than men of piling up medical debt they can’t pay (45% compared with 32%).
(stats via commonwealth fund)
Women need direct access to reproductive health care providers, because for many women, reproductive health care is often their primary or only source of care. Community Health providers like Planned Parenthood must be part of the solution and must be included in any health care reform.
Ninety-five percent of the care Planned Parenthood delivers is preventive and primary. Last year, our organization provided more than 300,000 units of contraception, 58,000 STI tests, 20,000 breast cancer screenings and 17,000 cervical cancer screenings. More than half of our 63,000-plus patients are at or below 100% of the federal poverty level. 81 percent of our patients are eligible for care at little or no cost. Only 5 percent of our patients can afford the full cost of their care. 75 percent of our patients do not have access to private insurance.
The forum was a great opportunity to have a thoughtful conversation with leaders in public health from across the state as we work to fashion health care reform. Thank you, Senator Franken for your attention to public health, prevention and wellness.
7/24/09
More Troubling News from the CDC on the Sexual Health of Young Adults
by Sarah Stoesz, President and CEO
Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota
From the Kaiser Family Foundation:
The CDC's latest Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) examines the sexual health of young adults and teenagers in the U.S., Reuters reports. "The data presented in this report indicate that many young persons in the United States engage in sexual risk behavior and experience negative reproductive health outcomes," the MMWR states (7/16). For the report, CDC compiled data from several different studies involving hundreds of thousands of teenagers and young adults age 10 to 25. Among other findings, the data indicated that AIDS rates among boys age 15 to 19 increased from 1.3 cases per 100,000 in 1997 to 2.5 cases in 2006.
MPR Midmorning had a compelling discussion today about the report and what should be done to address this troubling trend: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/radio/programs/midmorning/
Unfortunately, many of the trends evidenced in the report are being seen right here in Minnesota.
Sexually transmitted infections have climbed to historic levels, with Chlamydia rates in the state more than doubling in the past thirteen years (a seven percent increase in the past year alone). In some communities of color, the situation is dire, as health care disparities have led to rates so high that the epidemic has become self-sustaining.
This is an unconscionable public health failure. It’s time for solutions. Minnesota’s young people deserve a balanced, honest approach to sexuality education in order to best make informed, responsible decisions that will preserve their health and well-being.
It’s a complex problem that requires comprehensive solutions; including:
• Support for parents as the primary sexuality educator of their children.
• Medically accurate sex education.
• Access to reproductive health care services.
• Youth development opportunities to engage young people in their community.
As parents, teachers and those working in public health, we have an obligation to simultaneously protect and empower youth by providing them with accurate, age appropriate fact-based sexuality education.
For the past two years, PPMNS has led the effort to advance legislation that would help to reverse this trend. Addressing this public health issue through common sense public policy, accessible health care and community relevant/responsible fact-based education is our priority.
PPMNS is proud to offer 10 education programs across the state of Minnesota for parents, teens, and community members that are grounded in research.
Our Parent-Child Programs support family communication and connectedness; our Teen Councils and Youth Peer Education Programs empower young people with the skills they need to make healthy choices, and our Adult Lay Health Advisor Programs teach adults how to be health care experts in their local communities.
We provide culturally relevant education and outreach services among Latino, Asian and African immigrant communities specifically designed to respond to cultural and linguistic barriers that often keep members of our communities from seeking the health care they need.
The latest report from the CDC underscores what many already know: teens need to know how to protect themselves against sexually transmitted infections. They need medically accurate and age appropriate information and access to preventative health care to build healthier, brighter futures.
Planned Parenthood will continue its work at the legislature, in our clinics and in communities across the state to address this public health and education imperative. Our young people deserve nothing less.
7/13/09
The Simple Truth about Family Planning
by Sarah Stoesz, President and CEO
Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota
According to a Guttmacher Institute report from early this year, the typical American woman, who wants two children, spends about five years pregnant, postpartum or trying to become pregnant, and three decades—more than three-quarters of her reproductive life—trying to avoid pregnancy.
About half of all pregnancies in the United States each year—more than three million—are unintended. By age 45, more than half of all American women will have experienced an unintended pregnancy, and about one-third will have had an abortion.
The report goes on to point out that, “Publicly funded family planning services help women to avoid pregnancies they do not want and to plan pregnancies they do. In 2006, these services helped women avoid 1.94 million unintended pregnancies, which would likely have resulted in about 860,000 unintended births and 810,000 abortions.”
When you examine the realities of the reproductive lives of women, one thing is clear: family planning plays a central role to the health and well-being of all women and access to preventative care is crucial to ensuring we can all build healthier, brighter futures.
Family planning has been cited by the CDC as one of the ten greatest public health achievements of the 20th century, right alongside immunizations and safer, healthier foods. As medical providers, we know first hand the difference that accessible, preventative health care makes in the lives of women and families across our region.
In 2008 alone, PPMNS provided more than 300,000 units of contraception, nearly 58,000 STD tests, more than 20,000 breast cancer screenings and over 17,000 cervical cancer screenings throughout our region.
Even the staunchest fiscal conservative has good reason to embrace family planning. Study after study demonstrates that it costs less to fund contraceptive services than it does to pay for prenatal care, delivery, and infant care associated with unintended pregnancies.
In fact, every dollar invested in family planning saves Minnesota taxpayers $5.40 in Medicaid charges for pregnancy-related care. Without public investment, nearly 60% of women in need of family planning assistance are unable to easily access basic public health programs. A low-income woman is 4 times more likely to have an unintended pregnancy and more than 4 times as likely to have an abortion as her higher-income peers.
Teens are especially at risk of experiencing an unintended pregnancy. In Minnesota, 54% of Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP) dollars ($120 million per year) is spent on families that began with a teenager giving birth.
All women, regardless of economic status, must have the same opportunity to access health care and plan and space healthy pregnancies. Strong family planning is good health care policy, good public policy and makes good sense from both a fiscal and a social perspective. And that is a simple truth that the majority of Minnesotans can agree on.
7/2/09
Another Study Shows Abstinence- Only Education Fails Young People
by Sarah Stoesz, President and CEO
Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota
“Changing Behavior Risk for Pregnancy Among High School Students in the United States, 1991–2007,”
The study’s lead author states:
“After major improvements in teen contraceptive use in the 1990s and early 2000s, which led to significant declines in teen pregnancy, it is disheartening to see a reversal of such a positive trend,” says lead author John Santelli, M.D., chair of the Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and Guttmacher Institute senior fellow. “Teens are still having sex, but it appears many are not taking the necessary steps to protect themselves from unwanted pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections.”
This study underscores what Planned Parenthood has known first-hand: teens need to know how to protect themselves against sexually transmitted infections. They need medically accurate and age-appropriate information to make responsible decisions.
In the last decade, more than $1.5 billion dollars has been spent on ineffective abstinence-only programs that deny teenagers the life-saving information they need to stay safe.
The news is bleak nationwide and right here, at home, in Minnesota. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that, for the first time in 14 years, the teen birth rate has increased, especially among 15-19 year olds. Additionally, sexually transmitted infections are on the rise at a staggering rate in Minnesota. According to a report from the Minnesota Department of Health, sexually transmitted infections have reached their highest level ever in Minnesota, with the rate of chlamydia doubling over the past ten years and a gonorrhea infection rate at its highest since 1990.
Abstinence-only education is not only ineffective, it risks health of young people. Comprehensive sex ed provides adolescents with the knowledge to make responsible choices about their health. And the overwhelming majority of Minnesota parents agree that teenagers need to know how to protect themselves against unintended pregnancy, HIV, and other sexually transmitted infections. Comprehensive sex education includes an abstinence component. But abstinence alone is not enough.
The study concludes by stating:
“To create a national consensus, the U.S. would benefit from a collective national dialogue about teen sexuality and the importance of preventing unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. The U.S. might redirect its energy from persistently divisiveness political debates around sexuality education and abortion to support reinvigorated efforts to prevention of unplanned pregnancy by promoting the importance of consistent and effective contraception and protection against STIs.”
I couldn’t agree more.
6/9/09
Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota is pleased to present a guest column from Senator John Marty.
Obama Opens the Door to thoughtful discussion of Abortion
Thirty-six years after the Roe v. Wade decision, after three and a half decades of angry, divisive abortion politics, Barack Obama has begun to open the door to a thoughtful discussion of abortion. His plea for "fair-minded words" in the abortion debate should be used by people on both sides to begin to heal this national divide.
As President Obama said in his commencement address at Notre Dame, "Maybe we won't agree on abortion, but we can still agree that this heart-wrenching decision for any woman is not made casually, it has both moral and spiritual dimensions."
This opportunity gives us a chance to reframe the discussion to see where we can find common ground. It does not mean that we should gloss over differences, but we must avoid vilifying people with differing opinions.
There is common ground. Most people believe that a human fetus is much more than "just a piece of tissue," and would strongly support a major effort to reduce the number of abortions. Several years ago, I proposed comprehensive abortion prevention legislation in the Minnesota Senate. My proposal would single-handedly reduce the number of abortions by far more than all the restrictions adopted at the behest of the "pro-life" movement over the past thirty years. How? By preventing unintended pregnancies through family planning services and sexuality education. We also need to provide care and support to women who carry their pregnancies to term.
Most people, if they examine their beliefs on the issue, view it as more complex than a simple decision of "choice" vs. "life." When South Dakota voters had a referendum on banning abortion in all cases except for rape, incest or risk to the life of the mother, many were influenced by a TV ad featuring a young couple whose doctor told them that they had 24 hours to make the painful choice between aborting one of the twins she was carrying, or losing both of them. When people saw a picture of the family with their child, now a young toddler, few believed that they should have been prohibited from choosing the abortion and thereby losing both of the twins.
I believe abortion should be a safe, legal option for women, but I am neither pro-abortion nor anti-life, and I am not alone. If a woman is pregnant and cannot handle the pregnancy for medical, psychological, emotional, or other reasons, most people believe it must be her decision, not that of politicians. They recognize that women who choose to have an abortion do so after thoughtful consideration of their difficult options, consultation with family, and yes, prayer.
Even most "pro-life" voters, when pressed on specifics, oppose prosecuting either the woman who had an abortion, or her doctor. They have a strong aversion to abortion, and they want to express their opposition in a manner they hope will reduce the number of abortions. These are people who would appreciate strong abortion-prevention legislation. This is our best hope for closing this bitter divide and bringing the sides together.
As President Obama pointed out, some people on each side of the abortion issue will not be persuaded. Those who consider a fetus to be nothing more than a "piece of tissue" are not likely to expend much energy in preventing abortion.
Likewise, those who truly believe the bumper sticker slogan "abortion is murder" presumably believe that either the doctors or the women, or both, should be thrown in prison on murder charges. They would accept nothing short of a total ban on abortion.
But most people want to find common ground on this issue which has been tearing apart our country for too long. For most, abortion is not murder, but neither is it an acceptable method of birth control.
Despite thirty-six years of evidence to the contrary, perhaps we can finally bridge this divide. As President Obama challenged us, we need to move away from divisive rhetoric and focus instead on solutions. Abortion-prevention legislation can do just that. It has the potential to bring us together, and that would be a great victory.
Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota is pleased to post or repost any article or column by a legislative ally that aligns with our mission and legislative agenda. For more information please contact Senior Director of Government and Public Affairs, Tim Stanley at tstanley@ppmns.org
6/3/09
A killing in Kansas hits home in Minnesota
by Sarah Stoesz
President and CEO
Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota
When the news hit that Dr. George Tiller had been shot to death in Wichita, Kansas, my thoughts turned immediately to his wife, his children, his grandchildren, his fellow churchgoers and the many women and families who benefited from his compassionate care.
I thought, too, about the safety of our staff, our patients, and the legions of volunteers who support the work we do at Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota. I vowed, as has our board of directors, that our security team would overlook no detail and spare no expense in protecting them.
I also thought about the angry protesters who gather every day outside our Highland Park clinic – and clinics around the country. They hold up distorted images and attempt to dehumanize our patients and staff. Their overheated, hate-filled rhetoric, fueled by the likes of Bill O’Reilly and too many others, feeds the paranoid fantasies of vulnerable, mentally unstable people.
What happened to Dr. Tiller is more than tragic. And if there’s one thing on which we can all agree, it is to tamp down the rhetoric. It’s time for ethically based people to come together, put a stop to this madness and start working toward practical solutions.
Dr. Tiller’s work was born of compassion. He was one of a handful of doctors willing to provide abortions in the most difficult of situations: when the life and health of the mother was clearly at risk or when there were fetal anomalies not compatible with life. He simply would not be deterred by the relentless threats against his life, assaults on his person, damage to his property and ceaseless verbal attacks.
Those with whom I’m privileged to work at Planned Parenthood are equally principled and committed. They will let nothing stand between them and the many people who need their services and care.
One of our volunteers, in fact, was spurred into action on Jan. 22, the day a man intentionally rammed his SUV into the front of our Highland Park clinic. This volunteer now serves as a clinic escort, ensuring that our patients and staff can come and go from the building with as little harassment as possible from protesters.
He responded the way many of us did to Dr. Tiller’s death: “With profound sadness, then anger, then just determination that this cannot stand.”
And, like Dr. Tiller, he will not be deterred: “I’m frightened,” he said, “but I can’t let this stop me. It’s very important to stay committed and focused on continuing to provide access to safe and legal care.”
Dr. Tiller stayed calmly and serenely above the fray. We admired his strength, his refusal to back down and, above all, his kindness toward his patients. We will remember him as does his colleague Dr. Shelley Sella. In an interview with Amy Goodman, she said: “Dr. Tiller . . . did everything out of kindness, justice, love and respect. Those were some of the words that he used to describe the doctor-patient relationship that he thought was so important, but those are words that describe him and the way that he provided care.”
As we mourn and remember Dr. Tiller, we will move forward with determination, courage and civility. We will stay focused on ensuring that our patients get the primary and preventive care they need at our clinics: cancer screenings, contraception and immunizations. We will renew our call to respect each other’s differences.
It is the only way to honor a man who refused to be intimidated.
5/31/09
Statement on the Murder of Dr. George Tiller from Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota South Dakota President and CEO Sarah Stoesz
We are deeply saddened and shocked to learn of Dr. George Tiller's murder today. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family during this time.
We denounce this act of unspeakable violence and brutality and remain steadfast in our commitment to provide health care to every woman that relies on Planned Parenthood. Obviously, the health and safety of our patients and staff is paramount.
Dr. Tiller had been harassed by abortion opponents for much of his career - his clinic was burned down, he was shot in both arms by an abortion protestor, and he was recently targeted for investigation with a jury acquittal coming just a few months ago. None of this stopped the courageous Dr. Tiller from providing women and their families with abortion care they needed.
Dr. Tiller's death is a profound loss for women and their families across the country and an immeasurable loss to those working to ensure women have access to all safe, legal health care, including abortion, even in some of the most difficult circumstances. We mourn with his family and with our entire community.
5/27/09
Working toward common ground in the abortion debate
by Sarah Stoesz
President and CEO
Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota
A recent Gallup Poll appears to show a shift in public opinion on abortion, with more Americans than ever identifying as “pro-life.” But experience shows that such labels as “pro-life” and “pro-choice” are hopelessly dated and serve to drive wedges between us, and that the poll itself might be asking the wrong questions altogether.
Read deeper into the results of this and other recent polls and you will find that, no matter what the label, most Americans want to keep abortion legal.
We know from our work in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota, that the more we engage in substantive discussion about the issues that affect the health and safety of women, the more people understand and honor the complexity of the abortion issue and recognize the need to leave these personal decisions to women and families.
The truth is that many people have some level of moral ambivalence about abortion. Most South Dakotans, for example, self-identify as "pro-life" and are opposed to abortion, but they have defeated statewide measures to ban abortion in two elections. Even the most conservative Americans want to keep abortion safe, legal and rare. Why? Because abortion is a morally complicated issue, which is precisely why woman are entitled to think it through and come to their own conclusions.
It’s high time that the rest of the country follow South Dakota's lead and stop using the divisive language of the past and start acknowledging and respecting the internal conflict felt by many voters on this issue. Acknowledging moral conflict is not something to fear, but rather, a measure of respect for an individual's capacity to make the best decision for themselves and their families, rather than being left at the whim of government decision makers.
South Dakota voters didn’t reject abortion bans because they are suddenly “pro-choice.” Rather, they said “no” because they understood the consequences of banning abortion and did not want government intruding on personal family decisions.
The key to expanding the conversation and creating the common ground that President Obama so eloquently called for in his address at Notre Dame is to acknowledge differing views and concerns about abortion while also reinforcing the idea that abortion is a personal matter in which government and others should not interfere.
President Obama’s speech mirrored the sentiments of most Americans and underscored the importance of the work Planned Parenthood does every day to provide family planning services and reduce unintended pregnancy.
Roe v. Wade has been settled law for decades. Those who try to rekindle that debate with heated rhetoric are taking the focus off the common goals most of us share of reducing unintended consequences and the need for abortion.
These are goals we can all agree on. Let's move beyond labels and toward meeting these goals.
5/7/09
Focusing on prevention, closing up disparities in health care reform
by Sarah Stoesz
President and CEO
Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota
In a new report, the Center for American Progress's Nayla Kazzi breaks down the current health care crisis and highlights some startling numbers.
Kazzi writes that employers have shed 5.1 million jobs in the last 15 months and estimates that "2.4 million workers have lost the health coverage their jobs provided since the start of the recession,” based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Further, she points out that approximately 1.3 million of these losses have occurred in the last four months. More than 320,000 Americans became uninsured in March alone, which amounts to more than 10,000 workers a day.
Add to that the fact that more than 45 million Americans have no health insurance and an additional 25 million are underinsured, meaning they have insurance, but it does not adequately cover their medical expenses.
The demand for health care is urgent and the value of prevention, a cornerstone of Planned Parenthood services, is self-evident. Planned Parenthood is a preventive health care provider that thousands of low income women and families rely on in our region. We understand that investing in prevention helps reduce health care costs overall. And preventive care will ultimately make coverage more affordable for Americans.
We see the fallout from the economic downturn every day in our clinics across Minnesota. We see women who have lost jobs and the insurance coverage that they rely upon putting off much- needed health care, women who are worried about being laid off opting for longer-term birth control and scrimping to afford the basic health care that many of us take for granted.
We all have a responsibility to fix America’s broken health care system so that it’s affordable, accessible, high quality, comprehensive and culturally relevant.
All of us benefit from healthy communities and healthy families, in which every person has access to high-quality, affordable and confidential health care from a provider of their choice.
Ensuring such access is a critical step in eliminating inexcusable health care disparities experienced by so many in this country. We support health care reform that prioritizes prevention and ensures that all individuals have the information and services they need to stay safe and healthy.
And we must recognize that government can’t do it alone. We need to empower women and their families to make informed decisions about their health care needs. At Planned Parenthood, we’ll continue to work toward meaningful and equitable health care reform and remain steadfast in our commitment to providing affordable, accessible health care to women and families, no matter their ability to pay.
4/24/09
A New Day for All Women
by Sarah Stoesz
President and CEO
Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a courageous statement during congressional testimony on Thursday. She stated a simple and powerful truth missing from Washington for far too long. Clinton affirmed the administration's commitment to ensuring reproductive rights and health as a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy.
Yesterday, New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith asked her whether the Obama administration is seeking to "weaken or overturn pro-life laws and policies in African and Latin American countries," and whether the United States considers abortion as a component of reproductive rights and health. Smith knows the influence the United States can wield on this issue, since he's often used his office to bolster anti-abortion forces worldwide. In 2004, for example, when Uruguay moved to liberalize its abortion law, Smith faxed a letter, signed by five other Republican congressmen, to every member of Uruguay's Senate urging them to defeat the bill and not "legalize the violent murder of unborn children." It lost by four votes.
In response, Secretary Clinton highlighted her firsthand experience saying, "When I think about the suffering that I have seen of women around the world, I've been in hospitals in Brazil where half the women were enthusiastically and joyfully greeting new babies and the other half were fighting for their lives against botched abortions."
She continued, "I've been in African countries where 12 and 13-year-old girls are bearing children. I have been in Asian countries where the denial of family planning consigns women to lives of oppression and hardship."
Secretary Clinton concluded, to applause, that, "We are now an administration that will protect the rights of women, including their right to reproductive health care."
Secretary Clinton's statement ushers in a new day for women's health, here and around the world. It signals that the U.S. is once again willing to lead the fight for equal access, rights and freedom for all women. When one in 10 pregnancies across the globe end in an unsafe abortion, this much is clear: the era of politicizing women's health has gone on for far too long
After nearly a decade, we have a Secretary of State courageous enough to stand for the values of the majority of Americans and protect the health and safety of women and families at home and across the globe.
And it couldn't have come a moment too soon.
