Arizona gubernatorial candidates participated in a televised debate the Monday before last, and nary a word was spoken about reproductive rights. We’re talkin’ radio silence here, peeps. (Democratic Diva)- While social issues, such as abortion and religious freedom, haven’t been a dominant part of the conversation in this race, they will absolutely be a dominant part of our next governor’s job. (AZ Central)
- The American Academy of Pediatrics is now recommending the use of long-term contraceptives (like IUDs) for teen girls. PPAZ’s medical director agrees! (Public News Service)
- Who else is ready to party at some legal (and not only ceremonial/symbolic) gay weddings in AZ? Our wish might soon be granted! (Tucson Sentinel)
- Texas forced the closure of 13 abortion clinics last week, leaving the state’s 5.4 million women of reproductive age with only eight clinics, which are scattered throughout the state and not in convenient locations for many of the women in its most rural areas. Their AG (out-of-touch, privileged white guy) says driving up to 250 miles one way for an abortion is “manageable.” Because, yes, he’s the arbiter of what’s manageable for women of varying socioeconomic backgrounds. Ugh. (HuffPo)
- Maybe if Texas hadn’t banned the safest, most affordable method of abortion (now available in only two states), this wouldn’t be such a hardship. (The Atlantic)
- Ironically, the states with the most “pro-life” laws on the books provide the most craptacular health (and maternal) care to women. The infant/maternal mortality rates in these places are obscene. In these states (Arizona is one), the babies they force us to have are more likely to die at birth, and so are we in the process of having them. Thanks, conservatives! (Jezebel)
- In case you weren’t aware, parental consent laws are terrible and pregnant teenagers who want to terminate their pregnancies are completely humiliated and put through the wringer by conservative judges. At a time when they least need it. (Mother Jones)
- Starting next week, the University of California, San Francisco will commence the first online course on abortion care that’s ever been offered by a U.S. school. Considering there’s such a shortage of doctors who actually know how to perform abortions, it’s a great sign that more than 3,000 students have already signed up for the course. (Think Progress)
Tag Archives: UCSF
Celebrating Motherhood — and Reproductive Freedom
Two months ago, a single mother’s ordeal was grabbing headlines. Shanesha Taylor, homeless and desperate for a job, landed an interview at a Scottsdale insurance office. But the 35-year-old mother of two faced a difficult dilemma when she went to her interview on March 21. She couldn’t find child care, but she also couldn’t afford to cancel.
Short on options, Taylor let her two boys, ages 6 months and 2 years, wait alone in her car for 45 minutes while she tried to secure a source of income for her family. Taylor was subsequently arrested for child abuse for leaving her sons unattended in a hot car. Her children were examined at an area hospital and released as uninjured, but Taylor nevertheless faced two felony counts.
The best gift to mothers would be the ability to choose motherhood without suffering tremendous financial blows.
Taylor endangered her children, but she did it because she faced a tough dilemma — a choice between what was best for them in the short term and what was best for them in the long term. She faced this dilemma in the richest nation in the world — a nation that is nonetheless the worst among rich nations in terms of family-friendly policies. Taylor’s unemployment didn’t help matters, but even for the employed, social programs are lacking. As Stephanie Coontz summarized in her interview with us last year, “We are the only rich, industrial country in the world that doesn’t have subsidized parental leave, limits on the work week, some form of national health insurance, and/or strong investments in child care and preschool.”
Consequently, parenting is an almost insurmountable expense for many. In the last 20 years, the cost of maternity care and delivery has swelled in the United States — in fact, tripling in the case of delivery. Pregnancy, delivery, and newborn care now come to $30,000 on average. Add another $20,000 if the delivery is by C-section. It’s far more than what people in other developed nations pay. Americans pay more than twice what people in Switzerland pay for childbirth, and more than three time what people in Britain pay. Continue reading