Colorado’s Teen Birth Control Program Is So Successful The GOP Wants To End It

[Straw Man]

The stupid party strikes again

This program cut the teen birthrate by 40% and abortions by 42% and  saved $80 million in Medicaid, taxpayer-funded, costs to care for new mothers and their babies

Republican dipshits decided not to renew the meager 5 million in funding to keep it going.  

Colorado’s Teen Birth Control Program Is So Successful The GOP Wants To End It


Six years ago, Colorado came up with a way to target teen pregnancies that was so successful, that the birthrate among teens plummeted by 40%. Not only that, but their abortions fell by 42%. The numbers are astonishing and verifiable. The proof that the program works is in place.

The premise was simple: offer teens long-term forms of birth control that they don’t have to act on in the moment, when they’re making the choice to have sex. Those forms would be intrauterine devices and implantable rods. Both require removal if a woman wants to become pregnant.

The devices have been offered free, thanks to a private grant. However, the money is running out.

Dramatic drops in teen-age pregnancies and abortion rates are developments that anyone could get behind, right? Especially the ‘family values’, anti-abortion crowd that belongs to the GOP.

Wrong. In April, Republicans in the state House killed a bill that would have publicly funded the Colorado Family Planning Initiative. The legislation would have given the program $5 million to expand the effort.

The reasons are rich in irony, but are also what the country has come to expect of the hypocritical GOP. According to the Colorado Independent:

“Opponents of the bill worried that increasing access to birth control would not have a net public health gain because it would increase promiscuity.”
Aside from the tempting issue of how many Republican lawmakers have been caught in promiscuous acts, how can they look at the previously high birth and abortion rates and figure that teens aren’t having sex? It defies belief, as do many of the notions that the GOP embraces in order to win votes from their irrational base. But of course, any thinking person realizes that the true agenda here is to control women.

For those with clarity of mind, the figures are astounding. In dollar terms, officials point out that the program has saved $80 million in Medicaid, taxpayer-funded, costs to care for new mothers and their babies. The program has been especially effective among the poor. Economist Isabel Sawhill has written:

“If we want to reduce poverty, one of the simplest, fastest and cheapest things we could do would be to make sure that as few people as possible become parents before they actually want to.” Without the burden of unwanted pregnancies, young women remain free to finish their education and pursue careers that can support them in their choices.

The initiative isn’t going away, in spite of the GOP’s best efforts. While it hasn’t always been certain that the Affordable Care Act covers long-acting forms of birth control, which are more expensive, the Obama administration has warned insurers that they are breaking the law if they don’t include the devices in their free coverage. According to Gretchen Borchelt, of the women’s law center:

“It is now absolutely clear that all means all — all unique birth control methods for women must be covered.”
In addition, the program is searching for new funding so that young women don’t have to rely on their parents’ health insurance to obtain birth control — a potential obstacle for many. On July 1st, the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment appealed to the public for money to keep the initiative going.

The choices are pretty clear-cut: pay now, or pay more later in tax dollars. Greta Klingler, the family planning supervisor for the public health department, has indicated that the GOP is not in charge of the issue as demand for long-term birth control increases from every quarter. The Republican decision to deny funding may “slow, but not stop” the program’s progress.

The statistics don’t lie and the determination driving them is greater than GOP opposition will ever be.

http://reverbpress.com/news/colorado-teen-birth-control-successful/

[Skip8282]

Those are some wicked results.

[Straw Man]

Those are some wicked results.

I heard a story on the radio about this birth control program with a Coloarado Republican saying an IUD was an abortion device (which of course it is not)

You'd think spending 5 million to save 80 million would have had some influence on these guys

[Skip8282]

Abstinence is a failed policy as far as I'm concerned.  Don't get me wrong, we should advocate it to people underage, but there's got to be a back-up.  Kids are going to do shit, and I'm guilty myself.  I've got no problem with teens having access to birth control.

The problem I think is the government paying for it.  I get it would save more, but at the heart of the matter is taxpayers shouldn't have to pay either way.  Not sure how to resolve that.

[whork]

The stupid party strikes again

This program cut the teen birthrate by 40% and abortions by 42% and  saved $80 million in Medicaid, taxpayer-funded, costs to care for new mothers and their babies

Republican dipshits decided not to renew the meager 5 million in funding to keep it going.  

http://reverbpress.com/news/colorado-teen-birth-control-successful/

Republicans are the worst capitalists. Always complaining about the economy and always finding ways to fuck it up.

[LurkerNoMore]

.

[Irongrip400]

Abstinence is a failed policy as far as I'm concerned.  Don't get me wrong, we should advocate it to people underage, but there's got to be a back-up.  Kids are going to do shit, and I'm guilty myself.  I've got no problem with teens having access to birth control.

The problem I think is the government paying for it.  I get it would save more, but at the heart of the matter is taxpayers shouldn't have to pay either way.  Not sure how to resolve that.

There's no way to resolve it without going backwards. Unfortunately that's one of the side effects of progression, there are forms of collateral damage. In this case, kids are banging earlier. Don't get me wrong, I think it was stupid pulling this funding, but I do get your point not wanting your tax dollars going to something you don't believe in. But, we live in a democracy and compromise is key for its survival.