State Level Attacks
Since 2010, lawmakers have introduced more than 2,000 reproductive health provisions in legislatures across the country, the vast majority of which seek to undermine women's health by cutting basic health services and restricting access to breast exams, cancer screenings, birth control, and abortion.
Right now more than half of women of reproductive age are living in a state hostile to women’s health, and so far the current legislative session isn’t looking any better. In the first quarter of 2012, legislators have introduced 944 provisions related to reproductive health and rights — half of which would further restrict access to safe and legal abortion, while the others are designed to eliminate access to birth control and basic, preventive women’s health care.
Here are the top seven most dangerous trends targeting women’s health on the state level.
The Affordable Care Act: #healthcareworks
It’s been two years since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) — the groundbreaking health care law that improves access to affordable, quality health care for millions — was passed. Already more than 20 million women are receiving preventive care without co-pays. It is the single biggest advancement in women’s health in a generation.
As a health care provider whose doctors and nurses serve nearly three million people every year through its nearly 800 affiliate health centers across the country, Planned Parenthood is committed to expanding access to affordable care.
Here are seven reasons why we are celebrating the Affordable Care Act.
Birth Control and Other Preventative Care
Planned Parenthood believes that all people deserve access to preventive health care, including lifesaving breast and cervical cancer screenings, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, and contraception. In fact, more than 90 percent of the care Planned Parenthood health centers offer nationwide is preventive, helping women and families make responsible decisions about their sexual and reproductive health, their lives, and their futures.
Sex Education
Planned Parenthood is working with the federal and state governments to ensure access to sex education programs that give young people the reliable, accurate information they need to make responsible decisions and stay healthy.
Did You Know?
- The United States has the highest teen pregnancy rate among the world’s developed nations.
- According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than three million teen girls have a sexually transmitted infection. That's at least one in four.
- Half of sexually active young people in the U.S. will contract a sexually transmitted infection by age 25.
- Approximately 750,000 teenagers in the United States will become pregnant this year.
Abortion Access
Planned Parenthood believes every woman should have access to the full range of reproductive health care.
Our primary goal is prevention — reducing the number of unintended pregnancies, especially the alarmingly high number of teenage pregnancies, in the United States. At the same time, to protect their health and the health of their families, women facing an unintended pregnancy must have access to safe, legal abortion services without interference from the government. Decisions about childbearing should be made by a woman in consultation with her family and doctor — not by politicians.
Read More
Global Reproductive Health
Planned Parenthood is a leader in working to eliminate barriers to basic reproductve health care services that are essential to the lives of billions of women and men worldwide.
Worldwide, poverty, limited access to health services, lack of political will, legal restrictions, cultural taboos, and harsh gender inequality all conspire to put women at risk of harm resulting from unintended pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, unattended childbirth, and unsafe abortion.
Read More
Opposing Attacks on Women's Health
Women must be able to access health care without fear of violence, harassment, or intimidation. Young people must be able to get accurate information about their health and how to protect it. Women, men, and teens must able to make their own decisions about their health and their futures without government intrusion.
Anti-choice extremists do everything they can to prevent women and men from taking charge of their lives. If these radicals truly were concerned about women and families, they would work with Planned Parenthood to reduce unintended pregnancy in the first place by doing what works — increasing access to affordable birth control and comprehensive sex education.
Read More
