Senators Reid, Clinton Team to Push Legislation to Radically Reduce Abortions

The public health community has long-agreed that specific preventive measures are essential to curbing and limiting diseases: heart disease, cancers, diabetes and so on, as well as flus, colds and and other public epidemics. It makes good sense that preventive measures would also reduce unplanned pregnancies, and thus, abortions.

"There is no question that the rate of unintended pregnancy is too high in the United States. Half of the 6 million pregnancies each year in this country are unintended, and nearly half of these unplanned pregnancies end in abortion. It doesn't have to be this way," write Senators Harry Reid (D-NV) and Hillary Clinton (D-NY) in a joint op-ed published today.

"Most of these unintended pregnancies -- and the resulting abortions -- can be prevented if we eliminate the barriers that prevent women from having access to affordable and effective contraception."

The senators have long-supported the Prevention First Act, which includes the following:

--- Makes family-planning services more accessible to low-income women "President Bush and the Republican majority in Congress have promoted budget cuts for a wide range of programs that would provide critical supports for low-income pregnant women and their children. This includes cuts to maternal and child health programs, child care programs, the Community Services Block Grant and the Healthy Start program."

--- Ensures that government-funded sex education programs provide medically accurate information about contraception In 2004, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) released a report about abstinence-only sexuality education. The report found that more than 2/3 of government-funded abstinence-only programs contain misleading or inaccurate information about abortion, contraception, genetics, and sexually transmitted infections. Read much more info on this at the Planned Parenthood website.

--- Ends insurance discrimination against women "Right now, many policies cover Viagra, but not prescription contraceptives."

Senators Reid and Clinton point out the great irony that the states with the most restrictive abortion laws, such as South Dakota, are the same states that "oppose prevention initiatives and instead support making contraception less accessible, particularly for low-income women who are more likely to have unplanned pregnancies."

Translation: states that ban abortion often also provide little or no other family-planning alternatives for poverty-level women.

This is an important issue, for which Senators Reid and Clinton....and the Democrats for Life organization.... offer pragmatic, life-affirming solutions. Take the time to read the Reid-Clinton op-ed here at Democratic Senator Reid and Clinton Push 2006 Legislation to Reduce Abortions.
------------------------------
Related Article - Pro-Life Democrats Kick-Off 2005 Campaign to Reduce Abortions by 95%
------------------------------