Women's Health and the Elections

Issues that Matter

Below are a number of issues related to reproductive rights that could be greatly impacted by the elections. They include family planning funding, contraceptive equity, access to emergency contraception, medically-accurate sex education, and abortion rights and judicial nominees.

Family Planning Funding

Each year, more than 4 million low income women receive family planning services from clinics that receive funding from federal Title X (ten) programs. These services fill an unmet need for women who often have inadequate or no health insurance. Services offered at these health centers include family planning services; family planning counseling; pelvic and breast exams; screening for anemia, diabetes, and high blood pressure; testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases; safer sex counseling; basic infertility screening; and referrals to specialized health care.

Planned Parenthood provided health care to over 5 million women, men and teens last year alone, and demand for services increases every year, yet Title X funding remains far below what is needed to serve this demand.

Internationally, US assistance for family planning and the multi-lateral United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) provide support for family planning, maternal and child health care, and reproductive health services around the world.

We need elected officials who will increase funding for the Title X family planning program and who will work to restore and protect funding for international family planning as well.

Contraceptive Equity

Nearly half of all pregnancies in the US are unintended, and nearly half of those unintended pregnancies end in abortion. Contraceptives have a proven track record of enhancing the health of women and adolescents, preventing unintended pregnancy, and reducing the need for abortion. Although contraception is basic health care for women, many insurance policies exclude this vital coverage. We need elected officials who will fight for insurance coverage of all FDA-approved prescription contraceptives in the same way they cover other prescription drugs.

Access to Emergency Contraception

Emergency contraception (EC) provides women with a second chance at pregnancy prevention in cases of unanticipated sexual activity, contraceptive failure, or sexual assault. EC is a safe and effective method of contraception, yet some doctors are not informing patients about it and some pharmacies are refusing to stock or dispense it. We need elected officials who will increase access to emergency contraception.

Medically Accurate Sex Education

Polls show that 85% of Americans support age-appropriate, medically-accurate sex education in schools. Nevertheless, we’ve spent more than $1.5 billion on abstinence-only programs, which prohibit any mention of family planning, contraception, or disease prevention. The U.S. has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the developed world, and American adolescents are contracting HIV faster than almost any other demographic group. We need elected officials who will ensure that public schools teach responsible, age-appropriate, medically-accurate sex education.

Abortion Rights and Judicial Nominees

Since its 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion nationwide, the U.S. Supreme Court has handed down more than 20 major opinions regarding women’s access to safe and legal reproductive health care. Planned Parenthood believes it is the duty of courts and the judges who serve on them to preserve and protect our most basic and fundamental constitutional rights. Yet, just this year, the Supreme Court upheld the Federal Abortion Ban, the first law that effectively says politicians — rather than women and their doctors — are better equipped to make serious medical decisions. We need a President who supports Roe v. Wade and who will choose potential Supreme Court nominees who will vow to uphold it.

Anti-choice organizations have tried to erode access to abortion through intimidation, harassment, and abortion bans. They have tried to erode the legal underpinnings of legal abortion through legislation that would elevate the legal status of the fetus, at and stage of development, to that of an adult. We need elected officials who support Roe v. Wade and who will support the right of a woman and her physician to determine whether to have an abortion and to determine which method will best protect the woman's health.