A Place Where “Family Planning is far Different from Western Norms”
Sue Kettner
In 2008, Family Planning Health Services and the Adams County Health Department presented
a combined educational program for medical professionals visiting the US from Uzbekistan.
The group consisted of doctors, nurses and administrators of health programs. They were well
educated, caring individuals who wanted to understand how public health departments and non-
profit family planning agencies were run in the US. They cared very much about their citizens
and providing quality health care to their people. They expressed that they had lived a long time
under Russian rule and they now saw their independence as an opportunity to improve their
health care delivery systems.
We read with dismay the recent article in the Canadian Press attached below. It would appear
those very motivated health providers are now caught in a government supported program to
sterilize poor women…even against their knowledge and will.
Long ago someone asked us if teen girls shouldn’t be forced to have a Norplant Implant
contraceptive inserted in their arm at age 13. Norplant provided contraception for 5 years
by preventing ovulation. The questioner thought this would be a good way to prevent teen
pregnancy…at least until the girl graduated from high school. I was shocked by the question
and replied that I don’t believe in involuntary birth control. I believe in voluntary birth control and
family planning services. This is a nation founded on freedom of the individual and I could never
condone forcing someone to contracept just like I could never see forcing someone to conceive.
Too many of our ancestors fought and died to see that we have freedom in this country.
Freedom to make our own choices. Many, many of our ancestors came to the USA seeking
just those freedoms for themselves and their children. Forced contraception, whether
temporary or permanent, is un-American1 and should be outlawed anywhere in the world.
________________
1 un-A?mer?i?can
–adjective
not American; not characteristic of or proper to the U.S.; foreign or opposed to the
characters, values, standards, goals, etc., of the U.S.
In 2008, Family Planning Health Services and the Adams County Health Department presented a combined educational program for medical professionals visiting the US from Uzbekistan.
The group consisted of doctors, nurses and administrators of health programs. They were well educated, caring individuals who wanted to understand how public health departments and non-profit family planning agencies were run in the US. They cared very
much about their citizens and providing quality health care to their people. They expressed that they had lived a long time under Russian rule and they now saw their independence as an opportunity to improve their health care delivery systems.
Investments in health. The morality of supporting BP and opposing reproductive health services…I am wondering if my United States of America is so poisoned by fumes and political pollution that women, their children and their families don’t count with these people attacking reproductive health care providers.
Many of our colleagues, friends and supporters fought hard for health insurance reform both locally and at the national level. We watched the ups and downs of this process and wondered if there would ever be a final product. It has actually, finally happened. We’ve taken the initiative to thank our legislators for getting this done. We know that there will be work to be done to tweak this legislation in the future, but this is a momentous event and a real beginning for health care coverage for all.
We’d like to thank all the colleagues, advocates, friends and supporters who cared about and worked for a positive outcome for women and families. Our friends at Raising Women’s Voices for the Health Care We Need put out two fact sheets this week detailing the pros and cons of the new health insurance reform. We like their fact sheets and include them here for our visitors to access.
The Raising Women’s Voices for the Health Care We Need bulletin stated, “After the hard fought debates about health reform, there’s a lot of misinformation about the legislation out there. “ We want to do our part in promoting the facts about health insurance reform.
Family Planning Health Services Administration and Staff
We thought it valuable to post a recent article from the Gloucester County News and NJ.com about the 50th anniversary of the first “foolproof contraceptive” – the birth control pill. Margaret Marsh, university professor of history and dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers-Camden says, “What the pill did do is make it possible for women to have careers. It really was the first foolproof contraceptive.” Now, we all know the birth control pill isn’t “foolproof” and women can forget their pills or take them incorrectly…but the birth control pill was better than any reversible method available at the time and worked so well that women were indeed able to control their fertility.
Wisconsin has taken steps to advance the scope of the sex education our students will receive with the recently passed Healthy Youth Act. Wisconsin State Representative Donna Seidel talks with Dino Corvino in the attached podcast outlining the reasons behind this legislation. Across the nation, the rates of teen pregnancy have increased. The accompanying article from the Washington Post, January 1-26-2010, outlines what has happened and the increases in teen pregnancies in the last few years. Representative Seidel clarifies just why that is a concern for all of us
During these days as we wait for what Congress will do in the area of Health Insurance Reform, we found a good resource that may help many people understand Plan B or Emergency Contraception. The following article is written and nicely documented by Ron Hamel, Ph.D. in the Journal of the Catholic Health Association of the United States.
It appears Baltimore has found a solution to an issue that affects women seeking reproductive care across the United States. A disclaimer law would be a start at reducing the number of women who are unable to get the care they seek at a CPC. Service agencies should not dupe the people who come to them seeking comprehensive care. This law would address just that issue.
Imagine a friend of yours, a pregnant woman, walks into an office seeking information about her pregnancy. Only, it’s not a doctor’s office and they’re not going to tell her the truth. Unfortunately, this happens every day across the United States.
Our share of these costs comes out of our paychecks before we receive them. Are we paying attention to how much it is costing to provide health insurance for families in 2009?
These numbers jumped out of the page when I read Drew Altman’s article on the cost of employer provided health insurance. The projection for those costs to rise in the next 10 years reinforced for me the need for health care reform NOW.
So many young women who have a teen pregnancy find it daunting to think of completing their education. There seem to be many barriers – time, support, money, good child care, etc. But completing their education is the second most important thing they can do for themselves and their children. (The first most important issue is to obtain adequate health and medical care for mom and for baby.)This book supports, encourages and identifies young women who met the challenge and obtained higher education after experiencing a teen pregnancy.Education breaks the cycle of poverty; it enhances the potential for adequate income, health insurance, job security and a better life for her and for her child.
BEING a baby mama is no excuse for not finishing your education.Many women, though, use motherhood as an excuse to quit school. Only 40 percent of teen mothers who give birth before age 18 graduate from high school and less than 2 percent earn college degrees before age 30, according to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.
Earlier this month, a woman came into the FPHS Drive-Up and made a donation. She told us that she had promised herself if she ever drove past our clinic and saw people protesting, she would make a contribution. That day, because the protesters were standing there, she drove around the block, into the Drive-Up, pulled out her checkbook and made a donation.
It happened again with a different person today — another donation because protesters were standing in front of the family planning clinic in Wausau.
It has been hard for FPHS staff, myself included, to understand the protests outside the clinic because we know that we provide caring, compassionate voluntary contraceptive care that prevents unintended pregnancy (and care that helps people take responsibility for their reproductive health including planning for healthy pregnancies when they are ready.)
Having two supporters take the time and make a gift to show their support for us and our services, makes all of us feel appreciated. I’d like to invite all of you to drive through (maybe pick up some condoms) or, if there’s no line, just tell the staff at the window that you support family planning.
I’m sure that there are many times when people speak up for access to birth control when it isn’t easy. To those who do, “THANK YOU!!”
