Shocking News: Free Birth Control Reduces Abortions and Unwanted Pregnancies

Republican Free Birth Control (Image from Flickr, by DonkeyHotey)

A large study recently published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology has concluded that free birth control leads to dramatically lower rates of abortions and teen births. The study followed more than 9,000 women in St. Louis, who were provided their choice of contraception at no cost, including birth control pills and IUDs. When price wasn't an issue, the majority of women chose the most effective contraceptives, which tend to be the implanted options like IUDs. These cost hundreds of dollars up-front to insert.

The study found that teenagers provided free birth control had only 6.3 births per 1,000, compared with a national rate of 34 births per 1,000 teens in 2010. Furthermore, there were only 4.4 to 7.5 abortions per 1,000 women in the study, compared with 13.4 to 17 abortions per 1,000 women overall in the St. Louis region.

Deer Birth Control (Mike. Licht, NotionsCapital.com)

This data should bolster supporters of Obama’s healthcare plan, as the new law requires that employer-provided insurance plans provide FDA-approved contraceptives to women at no cost starting January 1, 2013. In light of the study’s findings, this provision of the healthcare plan should lead to a dramatic decline in unwanted pregnancies.

However, the women who would benefit most from free contraception are those who currently have no insurance coverage. Most of these women do not receive employer-provided coverage and most are low income. Even with the new mandates and the government subsidies for the low income uninsured, many will still be unable to afford coverage or may choose not to purchase it, and those who do qualify for subsidized coverage may be ineligible for the free contraceptives since they are not being covered by their employers.

The study’s findings should come as no surprise considering that the U.S. has one of the highest rates of unplanned pregnancies in the industrialized world, particularly among the nation’s low income women and teens. In suburban Marin County, for example, which is one of California’s wealthiest counties, only 5% of white teen girls live in poverty. And white teens between the ages of 15 and 19 have a birth rate of only 5 per 1,000. The rate is nearly 0% among younger teens, according to Mike Males. This is similar to Holland, where only 5% of children live in poverty and the teen birth rate is 5 per 1,000 girls ages 15-19. Yet, in agricultural Tulare County, California, 18% of white teen girls are impoverished and the white-teen birth rate is 50 per 1,000. Meanwhile, 40% of Tulare’s Hispanic girls are poor and their birth rate is more than 100 per 1,000, similar to that of Guatemala.

Providing free contraceptives to low income women and teens is probably the cheapest and most expedient way to reduce unwanted pregnancies, something that could help many delay childrearing until they are more financially stable or ready to have families. However, there are numerous other reasons why lower income women and teens have higher birth rates that are not only independent of their access to free birth control, but that require independent solutions. For example, there are 250,000 teenagers who are confirmed victims of physical and sexual abuse each year (and this is only the documented cases). Some of them become pregnant as a result and most have been abused by adults, often members of their own families. Yet, even when consensual, most teen pregnancies do involve an adult male.

Another factor to consider is that teenage motherhood can be a sensible economic choice for some poorer young women. For example, Duke economist, V. Joseph Hotz and colleagues, found that by age 35, women who had had babies as teenagers were now earning higher incomes, paying more in taxes, collecting less public assistance, and were significantly less likely to live in poverty than poor women who waited until their 20s to have babies. The explanation for this is that women who became mothers in their teens no longer had as many child-rearing duties by the time they reached their late 20s and early 30s, allowing them to pursue higher education and career advancement, while poorer women who waited to become moms were still stuck at home caring for young children during the prime years for career advancement. The Hotz et al study came out in 2005. Eight years prior to this, the federal government commissioned the "Kids Having Kids" report, which had similar findings.

Of course, with access to free birth control, many poor women may choose to forego childrearing until their 30s, or entirely, as many middle class women are currently doing, allowing them to not only complete college, but also establish their careers before starting families. Free birth control may also lead to smaller families and a reduction in the overall birthrate, which could help increase familial wealth by reducing the number of mouths families have to feed.

More Republican Lunacy

The following list is from AlterNet:

Anti-Environmental Craziness

• Bans on energy efficiency light bulbs are being considered by legislatures in Texas, Arizona, Georgia and Minnesota.
• Elimination of federal protection of salmon, polar bears, seals and wolves in favor of “state sovereignty” is being proposed in Alaska.
• GOP Congressional leaders abolished global warming committees and ended recycling programs in the House cafeteria, claiming “green” initiatives were too expensive and compostable utensils melted in hot soup and break in salads.
• They also want to abolish the EPA

Anti-Poor and Anti-Disabled Nuttiness

• A GOP legislator in New Hampshire wants to banish the disabled and homeless to Siberian gulags

Anti-Homeowner Greed

• They want to abolish Fannie Mae because it competes with for-profit banks.

Pro-Gun Insanity

• Doctors in Florida could be fined $5 million for asking patients if they own guns under proposed legislation, while every adult in South Dakota could be required to purchase a gun if the NRA has its way.
• Georgia is about to allow guns in bars, churches and political events
• Arizona already allows anyone to carry a concealed weapon without a permit
• Utah has an official state firearm, soon to be followed by Texas.
• Congressional Republicans forced “gun rights” into the health care bill to prevent the collection of “any information relating to gun ownership.”
• Congress refuses to ban ammunition clips that hold 40 bullets and fire two shots a second

Anti-Immigrant Hysteria

• In Georgia, undocumented immigrants could be charged with robbery for stealing “job opportunities” from citizens, while several states want to bar undocumented immigrants from marrying U.S. citizens.
• Alabama would make it illegal to rent to illegal immigrants.
• One GOP legislator wants to “make South Carolina a very hostile place for those who are in this country illegally.”

Religious and Moral Paranoia

• Mike Huckabee of Arkansas blames the economic downturn, crime and high school drop-out rates on our “morality” and wants America to worship evangelical Christianity.
• Newt Gingrich claims “religious belief is being challenged by a cultural elite” that wants God “driven out of public life.”

Afraid of Everything

• Republican Ron Paul wants to abolish almost all government agencies.

The Insane Logic of Republican Lawmakers

"Children Are Victims of Adults Vices"Mikhail Chemiakin

From David Sirota’s List of Sadistic State Laws (published in the OB Rag)

The Pro-lifers’ Anti-Life Exemption: The use of “pro-life” to mean anti-abortion is a brilliant propaganda tactic. Anyone who is against life, particularly an innocent child’s, must surely be demented or evil. There are several problems with this however. First, while certain religions may define life as beginning at conception, scientists and doctors do not agree. There are numerous natural phenomena that can halt fetal development before it is viable, drawing into question whether it can truly be considered life. Indeed, 50% of all pregnancies end in miscarriage (most during the first 2 weeks, before women even realize they are pregnant), which means that 50% of all pregnancies were, in fact, not viable lives.

A second problem is that many who call themselves “pro-life” are not at all pro-life. Some support the death penalty. Many support U.S. wars of aggression. And some even support murder. South Dakota passed HB 1171 which would legalize homicide by a person attempting to protect an “unborn child.” They later shelved the bill. Then Nebraska Republican state Sen. Mark Christensen introduced a nearly identical bill in his state that would legitimize the murder of abortion providers.

The Let Them Eat Corporate Tax Cuts Act: The Georgia Legislature has introduced a bill that would create a regressive sales tax on food in order to finance a new corporate tax cut. Sirota writes as if Georgia is uniquely evil in this. However, California’s Democratic Governor Jerry Brown has been attempting more or less the same. The wealthiest Californians have been enjoying numerous tax breaks and pay a lower percentage of their income in taxes than the poorest Californians, which is a major reason why California has such a terrible budget deficit. Rather than raising taxes on the rich (who can certainly afford it), Brown’s solution is to extend regressive sales taxes and vehicle licensing fees that would disproportionately affect the poor and working class.

Right to Make Kids Work (Modern School also reported this one, but it was so nutty, I though it worth repeating here): Missouri state Sen. Jane Cunningham’s is trying to eliminate child labor laws and allow corporations to hire kids under 14. The law would end restrictions on the number of hours that kids can be forced to work.

The Obesity and Deficit Encouragement Act: Colorado’s childhood obesity rate grew at the second-fastest rate in the country. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has shown that higher soda taxes can drive down obesity. (Higher gas prices reduce the amount of driving and higher cigarette taxes drive down smoking.) Colorado as has a budget deficit of over $1 billion. Yet instead of doing the obvious and levying a soda tax to raise revenues and help reduce obesity, their new Republican House is pushing a special sales tax exemption exclusively for soda.

Climate Deniers Hall of Fame: According to Sirota, Montana has been pushing a host of idiotic laws, like trying to legalize hunting with hand-thrown spears and eliminating education requirements for the state superintendent of schools. Perhaps the craziest is Rep. Joe Read’s bill that declares “global warming is beneficial to the welfare and business climate of Montana.”