The Colorado Contraception Debate: The Republicans in the Senate Appear to Dig Teen Pregnancy
WHEN IT COMES TO PROVIDING medical assistance, statistics have consistently shown: It’s cheaper to invest in prevention before issues requiring costly medical attention get out of hand. In Colorado, this strategy has been incredibly successful in preventing teen pregnancy by offering affordable or no-cost contraception to men and women in the state. However, with funding for the initiative drying up, the debate to keep the program alive came down to a vote in our Republican-controlled Senate. (Hint: They killed the program.)
Daniel Alvarez
But let’s go back and take a look at the hugely successful program, to reminisce on ways that keeping fewer teens pregnant is actually a good thing. (Since we actually have to explain that to certain people in our Senate.)
In 2009, Colorado instituted The Colorado Initiative to Reduce Unintended Pregnancy. The program was funded through a $23.6M grant from the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, and it gave Title X clinics across Colorado the ability to give men and women access to long-term, reversible contraception.
The initiative gained immense popularity and produced significant results. Over the last five years, it successfully reduced unexpected teen pregnancy by 40 percent, bringing Colorado from 29th in the nation for teen pregnancy in 2008, down to 19th by 2012.
Through the program, women had access to long-term birth control, such as intrauterine devices (or IUDs), at low or no cost to them. The success of IUDs can be attributed to their virtually maintenance-free nature. Additionally, IUDs have a failure rate of 0.8 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The device can last up to 10 years, which makes it one of the most cost-effective forms of contraception despite its price tag of $1,200. This is in contrast to a monthly commitment to birth control pills that can exceed $50 per month.
During the last six years of the initiative’s institution, the state has saved each taxpayer $5.95 dollars in Medicaid costs. According to Gov. Hickenlooper’s office, the initiative saved the state $42.5 million in 2010 alone. Funding will deplete by June of this year and the program needed bipartisan support for the state to continue fund the program through taxpayer dollars.
This is what reportedly posed such a problem with a Republican majority in the state Senate: they appear determined to use this legislative session to make their case for the 2016 elections, and have no intention of sullying their image by passing controversial contraception legislation. (Ditto any legislation that even remotely appears compassionate to LGBT issues.)
Overwhelming evidence has shown that access to contraception not only reduces the rate of unexpected pregnancies, but, in turn, it also lowers the rate of abortions. The abortion rate in Colorado plummeted 35 percent between 2009 and 2012 in places where long-term contraception was available. Allowing this program to expire derails the progress we’ve made here in Colorado and makes it harder for women to access contraception.
While men and women still have access to contraception through other outlets, such as Planned Parenthood, without the state on board to fund the option of low or no-cost contraception, it won’t be as readily available.
Way to go, guys.
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