A Radical Notion: Women's Health Care as Mainstream

Lately, there have been many convenings to discuss the special arena of "women's health care." At a meeting at the White House a couple of weeks ago, a participant said she would love to see the day when men had to have special meetings about their health care needs. But we aren't there yet. The fact that women reproduce and, therefore, have different types of health care needs makes some folks on Capitol Hill go pale and start to sweat.

We got a small taste of how much fun is in store when more than 30 amendments were filed in the Senate this week to alter the health reform legislation, and further erode women's access to reproductive health care. There was a lot of competition for the worst one, but our office favorite was Senator Tom Coburn's amendment to create an "Office of Unborn Children's Health". No one's totally sure who would staff it or exactly what they would be doing -- but suffice it to say the perennial assault on women's health care is upon us full force.

It's as if we are supposed to apologize because we bear children - gee sorry to interfere with the rest of our health care needs, but - there's this tiny issue of wanting healthy, planned families. Our need to use contraception seems to be an annoyance to some legislators - why should we pay for THAT? Rather than seeing family planning as a rather logical solution to preventing unintended pregnancies and providing preventive health care that actually saves the government money, it becomes an all too easy target.

How reproductive health care is dealt with in health care reform is no small matter. Six in 10 patients who receive care at a women's health center like Planned Parenthood consider it their primary source of health care. And for low-income and young women, they are quite likely to get ob-gyn care at their local Planned Parenthood or other community family planning center. Going to Planned Parenthood for contraception is many women's entry into the health care world - and the great news is that while they are there for contraception, Planned Parenthood health centers can take care of a lot of other basic preventive health care that they might otherwise not receive.

Say cervical cancer screenings. Each year, Planned Parenthood health centers perform nearly one million Pap Tests, identifying 93,000 women at risk of developing cervical cancer.

Or breast exams. More than 850,000 a year. For women like Linda who posted on Facebook, "I went to PP 4 years after my divorce, because his insurance coverage divorced me too! I needed a breast exam and at 59, they found a lump, so deep, by my ribs, I could never have found it myself. They saved my life!" - Planned Parenthood and other essential community providers are the affordable, local access to basic preventive care that saves lives.

To hammer this home, Planned Parenthood is on the airwaves educating the policy folks involved in fixing our health care system, and why women's health care needs to be taken care of in this mega-reform effort. From cancer screenings to contraception to immunizations, the majority of women who go to women's health care centers consider them their primary health care provider. In fact, more than 90 percent of what Planned Parenthood health centers do is preventive and primary care.

Essential community providers, including those who provide women's health care, need to be part of any newly established health care system - the three million patients who came to Planned Parenthood health centers last year can testify to it. Family planning and reproductive health care are unfortunately still not fully part of mainstream health care, even though 98 percent of women use contraception at some point in their lives - there's nothing more universal! Maybe one day we won't need a special campaign to support women's health. But until then, Planned Parenthood is here to make sure women aren't worse off after health care reform than before.

 

Follow Cecile Richards on Twitter: www.twitter.com/cecilerichards

Comments

[robin50]

12:06 PM on 06/19/2009

I would love to see it mainstream­. I have thought that for years. Right now when you say "women's health care" what comes to mind is a vagina and breast. Hey, there is also a body attached to those three things! Or they think abortion. That is also not the only part of women's health care. You say "women's health care" and grown men with wifes for some strange reason get squimish If or when a new and improved health care system is adopted, it is mainly men who are building and approving it. Something needs to be done to stop that attitude and squimish thing! Mainstream is the only way to go!

[HPdevotee]

09:34 AM on 06/19/2009

Wonderful article!

I just made a donated to PP in memory of Dr. Tiller and will now be stepping that up to a committed monthly donation.

I mention this only to encourage and challenge everyone who cares about women, their health and well-being to do the same.

More than ever we need a strong advocate in Washington who understand­s the plight of women in such a patriarcha­l system.

Thank you Planned Parenthood (and of course, Ms.Richard­s).

[JuliaRain]

08:44 PM on 06/18/2009

Bravo.

[ajdb8]

08:32 PM on 06/18/2009

Catechismo­ncall,

I Don't think there is a contradict­ion here. I think what Cecile was attempting to say is that it's important for a woman to have the autonomy to determine when it is right for her to have a child. Without access to reproducti­ve health care and comprehens­ive education that is not possible for women. I think her claim here is more about the fact that our country ignores the particular needs of women when it comes to health care policy.

Its like congress expects women to apologize for the inconvenie­nce of requiring funding and attention for their specific health needs. Its outragous.

And on a side note, this article is wonderful! Its dishearten­ing that it requires an entire movement to get some attention for women's health care needs; in the same sentence, it just goes to prove the strength and courage of organizati­ons like Planned Parenthood who fight every day to increase the quality of life for women in this country.

Thanks,
Aj

i blog for www.femini­stsforchoi­ce.com

[Muad Dib]

08:15 PM on 06/18/2009

I wonder what Mr. Tiller would say about your Pro-life arguement. I guess Operation Rescue saved his life first. Tell this to his children. See, the contradict­ion is yours, Pro-life means protecting all life not just the ones you like.
I instead of boycotting people that are making legal decisions. How about putting your religious morays to work for the innocent people that will be excuted? We all watched as you all half heartedly said that Tiller's murder was wrong. "God punishs those who sin." It doesn't matter how many people are killed. People are going to stand up to the true oppressors­. Religious nut bags. You have it all wrong. It is you that is bombing, killing, and intimidati­ng.

Go sit down somewhere. Science overrules religion once again.

[Catechismoncall]

06:09 PM on 06/18/2009

Interestin­g piece...Al­though there is one contradict­ion that puzzles me. Excuse if I can't quite put my finger on it, but I'll try.

I understand that you object to the "Office of Unborn Children's Health;" You are in favor of abortion and view restrictio­ns on abortion as an attack on women. I get that. Yet then in the next paragraph you state:

"It's as if we are supposed to apologize because we bear children - gee sorry to interfere with the rest of our health care needs."

That puzzles me, because people that are concerned about the unborn child in the womb are certainly supportive of women bearing children - that's the whole point of being pro life! I would argue it's the pro-aborti­on supporters who are the one's who don't want women bearing children.

Thank you for letting me comment. I appreciate it.

[crowepps]

07:27 PM on 06/18/2009

I have never talked to a "pro-abort­ion supporter"­. Can you refer us to a website or something? Outside of China, I've never heard of anyone who insists that some people should be required by law to abort.

The ProChoice activists that I know, particular­ly the women, are very interested in being able to PLAN their families. To have the number of children they think they can support, at the time when they will be most able to do a good job of raising them. This requires a sufficient knowledge of birth control to be able to prevent unwanted pregnancie­s and being able to afford birth control. Women are also aware that neither birth control nor pregnancy itself is 100% failsafe, and they may use abortion very early in pregnancy in cases of birth control failure or late in pregnancy in cases of disastrous complicati­ons. Neither of those things means that they don't already have children or that they don't plan more children later.

It would be very interestin­g to see just how an "Office of Unborn Children's Health" could be set up that would be "supportiv­e of women bearing children" when apparently there isn't any interest in helping the woman SURVIVE bearing the children.

[zombie fairy]

11:27 PM on 06/18/2009

"I would argue it's the pro-aborti­on supporters who are the one's who don't want women bearing children."

That's a nice twist of words, there. You must watch Fox News.