braintrauma Brain Trauma inducing thought of the day:  By trusting women and giving them control of their reproductive future, less unplanned pregnancies and less abortions will occur.   [tick tick tick….head asplodes….]

I know, how crazy is that?  Women…you know the ones that have children…are in the best position to decide whether the conditions are right to have a child.  (whoops, that’s two brain frying statements in the same post – apologies).

Offering women affordable healthcare (really, it should be universal and free; come join the rest of the civilized world America) makes for a more egalitarian, healthier, happier society.  Making it easier for people to access reproductive health services?  What is this sorcery?  The Guttmacher Institute summarizes the case nicely.

[read the whole report from the Guttmacher Institute here]

“A recent national survey of publicly funded facilities that provide family planning services found that facilities with a reproductive health focus were better able to meet the contraceptive needs of their younger clients—by incorporating youth-friendly service delivery, being accessible and ensuring confidentiality—than were primary care-focused facilities. Additionally, facilities with more youth-friendly services offered more long-acting reversible contraception (LARC), including the IUD and implant.”

[…]

“These juxtaposed concerns highlight the importance of offering women of all ages a broad range of contraceptive methods to choose from in the context of comprehensive, patient-focused counseling. The authors suggest that counselors manage expectations around LARC methods, highlighting both the reversible nature of these methods and that they are “set and forget,” making them highly effective. They also suggest that misconceptions about LARC methods that persist among both providers and patients be addressed through better education and counseling. Additionally, improved training on LARC methods for staff at all levels, not just clinical staff, will help facilities move toward a more comprehensive package of contraceptive services for young women, integrating IUDs and implants into the range of methods offered, which will ultimately help young women avoid unintended pregnancy and meet their reproductive goals. However, all of this requires financial support.

“Expanding insurance coverage that includes the full range of contraceptive methods is key to giving women access to the most highly effective—and often most expensive—methods,” said Adam Sonfield, senior policy associate with the Guttmacher Institute. “Implementation of the Affordable Care Act may go a long way toward easing cost issues related to LARC methods for U.S. women. In particular, it will make it easier for providers to offer these highly effective methods to younger clients, and provide the counseling they need to understand their options and choose the method that best meets their needs.”

Remember who was/is throwing a craptacular shit fit over healthcare?  Oh ya, the republicans and the church.  Women should keep that tidy little non-coincidence in mind.