State Agency Has Opportunity to Reduce Unintended Pregnacy and Abortion
Increased Access to Birth Control Saves Public Funding and Protects Young Women
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kelda Helen Roys 608-213-4502
August 13, 2004
Madison, WI – An innovative computer kiosk developed by Family Planning Health Services, a non-profit family planning center in Wausau, could help thousands of women sign up for reproductive health care and free contraceptives.
Wisconsin’s Department of Health and Family Services is reportedly considering whether to use the kiosks to help women receive needed medical care. Now, some conservative political figures are attempting to malign the program to serve their extremist agenda.
The program could save the state millions in Medicaid funding. “Every public dollar spent on general contraceptive services saves taxpayers approximately three dollars in funds that would otherwise have been spent on pregnancy and infant care through Medicaid,” said Kelda Helen Roys, Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin. This program would likely yield even greater savings, since it is designed specifically for Medicaid-eligible women, rather than the general public.
“These kiosks could be a key to reducing Wisconsin’s teen pregnancy rate,” said Kelda Helen Roys, Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin. “Research has shown that the best way to protect the health of young women is to ensure that they have access to contraception and accurate information about sex. When they do, they are significantly more likely to delay sexual activity, have sex less frequently, and use contraception more often than their peers.”
The Bush Administration and its allies in Wisconsin’s legislature, bowing to anti-choice extremists, have repeatedly pushed dangerous measures to reduce access to birth control, including emergency contraception, and to de-fund age-appropriate comprehensive sex education. If successful, these measures would certainly result in increasing unsafe teen sexual activity and causing more unintended pregnancies.
“It’s unfortunate that some politicians are willing to put their ideologies above women’s health,” Roys stated. “We should agree to do everything we can to reduce teen pregnancy and protect women’s
health. We know that accurate sex education and access to contraception are by far the most effective ways to do that. If a young woman needs birth control, we are all better off if she has access to it.”
While most teens voluntarily communicate with their parents about their reproductive choices, medical experts believe that teens should be able to obtain contraceptives confidentially, without government mandate or interference.
Many low-income women, especially young women, who are eligible for reproductive health care under the Medicaid Family Planning Waiver, have been effectively prevented from receiving service by geographic, educational, and economic barriers. Contraception is basic health care for women; without it, the average woman would have 12-15 pregnancies. Most women need to use contraception for nearly three decades. The kiosks, funded through a charitable grant, allow eligible women to order three months of contraceptives using a simple touch-screen program. They also receive follow-up and regular care.
NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin, the state’s only organization dedicated exclusively to political advocacy for reproductive rights, works to reduce unintended pregnancy and the need for abortion, through access to birth control.
###
| 
