Feds' free birth control rule drawing fire

[Judi Lynn]

Source: CBS News

August 1, 2011 8:43 AM
Feds' free birth control rule drawing fire

(CBS News) The federal Department of Health and Human Services was to announce historic women's healthcare guidelines Monday that would require insurance companies to cover women's preventive services, including birth control, for what amounts to no cost.

The guidelines, under the new healthcare law, would force insurance companies to not only cover the costs, but to eliminate co-pays and deductibles, reports CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller.

Birth control has been controversial in the U.S. from the moment Margaret Sanger opened the country's first family planning clinic in 1916 -- and was promptly sent to prison for it.

While many have hailed contraception as the best way to prevent unwanted pregnancies, others argue that abstinence education is the way to go.



Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/08/01/earlyshow/main20086250.shtml

[LetTimmySmoke]

1. Welcome to the 21st century religious righters.

We have 7 billion people. Thank you.

[perdita9]

57. Human Overpopulation is Killing the Planet

Smaller family sizes is good for the environment and will probably reduce poverty as well.

[boppers]

72. Save the planet, kill yourself.

http://www.churchofeuthanasia.org/

Of course, that just makes SS even *more* impossible to support, as less workers are available and afford to pay other people to not work.

[glinda]

73. Smaller families make the Conservatives happy. More of them.

[Lorien]

74. Not so. The GOP pushes for higher birth rates

more people= more consumers and cheap labor.

[glinda]

77. Higher birthrates for themselves.

[Lorien]

75. Anyone who would disagree with that statement is both blind and living

in a fantasy world of their own.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. If the rightwingers can't protest that federal dollars are going to the program,

then they will protest that the federal government is impermissibly regulating private business.

They have an answer for everything.

[NMMNG]

3. Pffft

While many have hailed contraception as the best way to prevent unwanted pregnancies, others argue that abstinence education is the way to go.


Birth control works. "Abstinence education" doesn't. Exhibit A:

[SkyDaddy7]

4. +1,000,000,000!!!! You nailed it!

That should be made into a poster supporting this move to force insurance companies to provide contraceptives at no cost.

You are 100% correct!

[RC]

24. Here ya go

[LiberalFighter]

34. One was more than enough!

[sulphurdunn]

59. Was the dad a Boy Scout?

I thought he was just another Palinesque opportunist from Bumfuck Alaska named Levi.

[NewJeffCT]

7. Didn't one of the Palin boys get his girlfriend pregnant as well?

or, was that just a rumor?

[LeftinOH]

9. Yes, but they got married (so that 'doesn't count'). n/t

[NewJeffCT]

11. pregnant before they got married, though

correct?

[gauguin57]

10. And everyone forgets that Sarah and Todd were expecting when they eloped, too.

Track was born seven months into their marriage.

[beac]

78. And so was Sarah's mother when she married Sarah's dad.

It's a family tradition!

[bluevoter4life]

53. Anyone else notice...

...that she was sitting in front of some Boy Scouts when this picture was taken? Am I the only one that found some humor in that?

[DWinNJ]

61. Be prepared

If you're looking for adventure of a
New and different kind,
And you come across a girl scout who is
Similarly inclined,
Don't be nervous, don't be flustered, don't be scared.
Be prepared!

- Tom Lehrer


"abstinence education" is the antithesis of being prepared

[coffeenap]

5. Why can't the damn headline be:

" Fed's free birth control rule generates wide-ranging support."

So sick and tired of being sick and tired....

[RC]

27. What? You expect the real truth?

Go chew on some crackers or something.
We are being sold down the river and you will enjoy the trip or else.

[coffeenap]

54. Yeah--I think I already chose "else", for dogs sake. Nt

[Aerows]

6. This is what the Planned Parenthood debates were always about

They were never about the "sanctity of life" and abortion. They are ALL about controlling women and forcing women back into the role of barefoot and pregnant. No one ever discusses Viagra, and not paying for it, but mention birth control, and wing nuts go crazy.

The easiest way to shackle a woman to the home is for her to be pregnant, and the easiest way for a man to control a woman is through her children.

Any woman that thinks the debates about abortion isn't about that exactly is a fool. First they come for abortion, and I guarantee you next they will come for birth control. If they are allowed to outlaw abortion, you can bet there will be a huge push to make birth control illegal, also.

[musette_sf]

64. + 1

[Judi Lynn]

8. DHHS to make birth control free for all women

DHHS to make birth control free for all women
Posted on 08.1.11
By David Edwards

The federal Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) was expected Monday to announce new guidelines that would require health insurance companies to cover women’s health care services, including birth control and and breast exams, without a co-pays or deductibles.

~snip~
In July, an Institute of Medicine report recommended making contraceptives free to all women.

That report came under immediate fire from conservatives like Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly.

“Many women who get pregnant are blasted out of their minds when they have sex, and they’re not going to use birth control anyway,” O’Reilly said last month.

More:
http://www.rawstory.com/rawreplay/2011/08/dhhs-to-make-birth-control-free-for-all-women/

[rbixby]

12. Wow BillO, lots of respect for women, eh? NT

[Altoid_Cyclist]

31. I'll second that WOW!!

I have to consider the source and remember the life form that said it, but still.....WOW!!

And he calls himself a journalist. You have to be human to become a journalist and he doesn't qualify.

[lark]

47. He's just speaking for himself and the only way he can get sex

What sober woman would want to have carnal relations with that man?????

:shrug:

[Fleshdancer]

48. Um, Bill? Just because the women who have sex with YOU need to drink heavily...

does not mean the rest of us require alcohol for an enjoyable sex life.

[cap]

70. Note to Bill O': Many women get blasted out of their minds when they have sex

if the guy knows what he's doing. :) They don't need alcohol or drugs. But you wouldn't know about that.

That's why there are a number of different kinds of birth control... so you can be ready when the moment strikes.

[AngryAmish]

13. Free birth control?

Doesn't someone have to pay fir it? Do do diaphrams appear magickally in the handbags of women who need them?

[kestrel91316]

51. We will still be payng for them indirectly, through our health insurance premiums.

The insurance companies just won't be able to skim that amount off and call it profits anymore.

Wow. Insurance companies unable to profit anymore from denying basic preventive health care for women! What a novel concept.

[kpete]

14. DHHS to make birth control free for all women

Source: Raw Story

DHHS to make birth control free for all women
Posted on 08.1.11
By David Edwards

The federal Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) was expected Monday to announce new guidelines that would require health insurance companies to cover women’s health care services, including birth control and and breast exams, without a co-pays or deductibles.

The new rules, made possible by President Obama’s Affordable Care act, would begin Aug. 1, 2012.

“We know that half of women, according to studies, forego or delay preventive care because they can’t afford it and under the affordable care act that all changes,” White House advisor Stephanie Cutter told ABC News.

Services covered will include well-woman exams, screening for gestational diabetes, breastfeeding support, domestic violence screenings, and all FDA-approved birth control methods — including emergency contraception like the morning-after pill.

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rawreplay/2011/08/dhhs-to-make-birth-control-free-for-all-women/

[Ship of Fools]

15. Wow. A little piece of good news for a change.

[Myrina]

16. paying premiums for a policy does NOT equal 'free' birth control.

n/t

[harmonicon]

19. It sure doesn't. nt.

[Lance_Boyle]

30. paying *higher* premiums...

Fixed that for you. Nobody here believes that the cost will not be passed down to the premium-paying pool, right?

[Ship of Fools]

44. Well, in all fairness folks,

you are right, I guess. Except NAME ME ONE instance where "trickle down" health care HAS NOT been the case?

[liberalmuse]

17. Well, then there's the problem of pharmacists...

who are refusing to fill birth control prescriptions because the female is unmarried. My daughter's friend gets her prescriptions denied at the pharmacys in Salt Lake City all the time because some POS pharmacist doesn't see her wedding ring and "it's against his beliefs". This infuriates me - misogyny and the continued oppression of women by the right wing taliban in this country is unacceptable.

[Dappleganger]

26. That pharmacist is an idiot, does he have any idea how many women

are prescribed BC for uses other than preventing pregnancy? Our oldest daughter has been on BC since she was 14 due to excessive bleeding and without it she'd be miserable.

[AtheistCrusader]

32. Impossible. Humans were designed by an omnipotent, omniscient being

that is perfect in every way.

Are you suggesting that such a being flunked engineering school? How could it possibly produce a design that has flaws and variability, not functioning as 'intended'?

[Manifestor_of_Light]

41. Sue the bastards!!!!!!

Seriously. Get a lawyer that knows about health care.

[plumbob]

52. They need to be filed on with the state for an ethics violation and their

certificate revoked.

You cannot pick and choose your job, otherwise, in teaching, I would pick "handing our gold stars" and forget all that instruction and grading and shit.

[noel711]

18. This should be a given, no doubt about it...

wonder how long before the 'pro-life' bastards
stomp out this provision.

I trust no one... our government has proven itself
totally untrustworthy.

[Tansy_Gold]

20. If you have insurance. .. . . . .. n/t

[w8liftinglady]

21. Tansy- Good Point...

http://www.guttmacher.org/statecenter/title-X/TX.html

•In 2008, 1,462,400 women in Texas were in need of publicly supported contraceptive services and supplies.(3)

•In Texas, 35% of women aged 15–44 are uninsured, compared with 22% nationally.(5) Title X–supported family planning centers play an especially important role in serving the uninsured, who often cannot afford to pay out-of-pocket at private health care providers.

[guitar man]

22. Exactly

That's a big "if". I had to drop coverage from my job this year since it was no longer affordable. I know a lot of families have had to do the same thing. While this is good news for those that need it and can still afford insurance, it's useless to those of us who can't :(

[Dappleganger]

28. Yes.

Of course for Planned Parenthood they are lucky to get any funds passed on to them, making them even less accessible to those who need it most.

But I am grateful for this small help as our girls are still on our insurance and ever little bit helps.

[ehrnst]

23. But aren't women who have sex without making babies the cause of the deficit?

and the terrorists?

:crazy:

[RC]

25. Stop that right now!

You are giving them ideas.

[avaistheone1]

58. Oh you're good!

:rofl:

[SoapBox]

29. Excellant news...

[LiberalFighter]

33. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops naturally being stupid

In a statement, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops opposes the new guidelines, saying, "Pregnancy is not a disease, and fertility is not a pathological condition to be suppressed by any means technically possible."

The birth control is not intended to treat pregnancy as a disease or to suppress fertility. It is intended to allow women and their families to better manage their life without interference from the medieval demands of the church. The church has no concerns for the welfare of people when they are willing to subject them to poverty and disorder in their life.

I don't believe the church has one word about the men who use condoms or get fixed.

I also wonder if the church considers it okay for sex when one or both have STD's?

The church doesn't have much in the way of morality when they demand that women continue their pregnancy when they are raped or it is the result of incest. They even want to avoid the use of preventive pregnancy shortly after a rape. The church apparently support men raping women.

[Name removed]

43. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[awoke_in_2003]

45. +1000. nt

[postulater]

50. Oooooooh, BAM!

:thumbsup:

[krabigirl]

35. Good news for women. I can't take BCP (hormonal meds make me sick), but so glad many will be able to

[avebury]

36. Which will cost the insurance companies and the tax payers less?

a. Providing birth control at no cost to women?
b. Providing prenatal coverage for pregnant women and insurance coverage for children?

[Igel]

55. False choice.

The program requires both.

It'll make for healthier kids and women, if you have insurance.

On the other hand, it'll make for higher insurance costs. They assume that employers will pick up the tab or somehow the insurance companies will have greater efficiencies. Then, when the insurance companies drop people to avoid losses or lay off workers to accomplish those efficiencies, they'll complain. Reality just doesn't squish nicely into the confines that each separate bit of government requires that reality fit into.


I just got a job. The school district has fairly fixed income. This is likely to increase their insurance costs. You can do the math: In this case, it'll help increase class size or reduce services. So the healthier kids will receive crappier educations.

Eh. We can always blame the (R).

[ProfessionalLeftist]

37. Uh-oh. The American Taliban are pissed off that women..

...may be able to exercise some control over their own bodies and lives. Horrors! :sarcasm:

[midnight]

38. Free birth control is an idea I support.... But it makes to much sense so it probably will not be

implemented by the knuckle draggers that seem to rejoice over destroying other peoples lives...

[AllyCat]

39. I'd think they would SAVE money

An unmedicated birth with a midwife in a hospital was $10K 3 years ago. What with epidurals, c-sections, the cost of OB docs, and other interventions on the rise, plus the cost of prenatal care and care for really sick kids in the Newborn ICU, and all the care of those kids and their often MULTIPLE health issues later in life, free birth control seems like a no-brainer.

[liberal N proud]

40. Big business has control of everything else in this country, why not this

It is an economics issue, birth control is cheaper than raising a kid.

You would think the corporate insurance bean counter would win out in this situation but the right wing religious fundamentalist wackos of this country seem to have a bigger grip on the balls of this nation than the corporations do.

[greymattermom]

or jail

where too many of the unwanted will live most of their lives.

[jwirr]

42. This is a purely religious protest and I want to say here and now,

as a Christian, get the hell out of our bedrooms. I and my family members and indeed any one who wants should have access to any form of birth control we want and it is no one else's business. It should be free as the organization these same churches are bitching about Planned Parenthood has furnished free birth control to the poor from the beginning.

I am really sick of these rw religious ideologist and their idea of controlling our lives.

[Arugula Latte]

46. The idiocy of religion strikes again ... and again ... and again...

[JAnthony]

49. In sheer dollars and cents, what is the cost of five years of BC pills

and annual doctor's consults versus the cost of medical care for one pregnancy, hospital delivery, and child health services for a prospective mother who did NOT practice BC?

Not to mention food stamps, WIC, or other welfare costs for a poor mother and child.

Round figures would be nice, maybe $500 or so versus $10-15,000? And that's just for one unplanned child.

I'm just guessing here. If anyone knows more, please help me out.

[valerief]

56. Abstinence ed really worked for Bristol Palin, didn't it? nt

[Beavker]

60. Great idea, makes perfect sense

Especially since our Wall Street humping private insurance carriers would never want to pay for such frivolity...so you had to know the Teabaggers would have a shit fit over this. As sure as the sun will shine frankly.

[Blue_Tires]

62. i'm surprised to see the RW still humping the "abstinence" bandwagon

Even the most religious communities in the reddest states' lily-white communities have teen pregnancy issues...

[StarsInHerHair]

63. There is no contoversy, it is only the Religious extremeists clinging to a proven

failed model. Bristol Palin anyone?

[Remember Me]

65. I'm scratching my head, trying to figure out

just how "abstinence education" is supposed to work for married women. I didn't think "abstinence education" included the rhythm method.

[Marthe48]

66. Old local graveyards: 1 husband, several wives

The wives, mothers, sisters, aunts, died in childbirth, or because of complications of childbirth. Some of the grave markers even say so. It isn't just to avoid unwanted or inconvenient pregnancies, it is women's health, too.
Margaret Sanger was appalled at the living conditions in the slums of New York City. The death rate among women, newborns and even kids under 5 was horrific. Thank God she acted. How many lives she saved, how many families she preserved, we'll never know, but you don't see nearly as many graves now as there were then.

[muriel_volestrangler]

67. "abstinence education is the way to go" - what, for married couples too?

I know the Vatican wants all its married women to be popping out children as fast as possible, and regards sex as a necessary evil for making more Catholics, but most women want to be able to have sex without spending half their lives pregnant - even after they're married.

[thelordofhell]

68. I bet they'd have no troubles with free Viagra

bastards

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

69. "others argue that abstinence education is the way to go."

and they should be sterilized,

[burrowowl]

71. YES! K&R

[One_Life_To_Give]

76. While daily heartburn meds lost flexplan eligibility

It should be covered. And I suppose there is some benefit to the zero out of pocket cost for filling the prescription. But it seems odd to have only these few drugs covered 100% while millions of us on daily meds have deductibles, copays, etc.