The following was published on Thursday, Aug 13, 2009 in the Akron Beacon Journal.

By Tara Broderick

Town-hall meetings across our country are being disrupted by rowdy protesters who are hijacking health-care reform. The stakes are too high to allow opposition tactics to scare us into losing the opportunity for real change in our country's health-care system.

Reproductive health care is often treated like the ''third rail'' of women's health. For many politicians and citizens, ''reproductive health care'' is synonymous with ''abortion.'' The reality is that reproductive health care is much broader and includes preventive services such as contraception, cancer screening, breast exams, immunizations and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections.

Abortion is being used as a wedge to deflect attention from the unique opportunity we have to achieve access to quality, affordable health care. If these divisive tactics succeed, women could end up worse off after health-care reform by losing benefits or providers of their choice.

First, let's set the record straight about abortion and health-care reform. There is no mandate to cover abortion care in any health-care reform legislation, and there is no plan to use taxpayer money to pay for abortions.

The public option that has been proposed is not a government-funded health plan. And in fact, 86 percent of employer-based insurance plans currently cover abortion care. Stripping that coverage from insured women is the real agenda.

Second, let's talk about prevention. On average, American women wish to become pregnant during a five-year period of their reproductive years. For the other 35-plus years, they are trying to prevent pregnancy. Virtually all sexually active women (98 percent, according to the Guttmacher Institute) use at least one contraceptive method at some point in their lives. Although contraception is a routine part of life for women, right-wing politicians and their town-hall protesters, continue to marginalize women's need for reproductive health care.

Unfortunately, our current health system is not oriented toward prevention. As President Obama has pointed out, it can be easier to get health-care coverage to have a foot amputated than to prevent the underlying diabetes. In the reproductive health realm, there are still insurance providers that will pay for an abortion but won't cover all the FDA-approved contraceptives that could prevent the need for an abortion in the first place.

Of course, what a health plan does or doesn't cover is moot to someone who doesn't even have insurance. An estimated 30 percent of U.S. women age 20 to 24 have no health insurance. For many of these young women, seeking contraception is the first point of entry into the health-care delivery system. In fact, according to the Guttmacher Institute, more than 60 percent of family planning clients consider their family planning provider their only primary care provider.

As an essential community provider, Planned Parenthood knows first-hand that any health-care reform plan must give women the ability to access reproductive health care. Because of the recession, women are deferring childbearing; yet sadly, many are also deferring preventive care that could save their lives and protect their health.

Now is the time for women to stand up to these protesters to ensure that women's health is not put on the chopping block. Members of Congress need to hear that women support health-care reform and that we deserve to be better off after health-care reform — not worse.

Broderick is the president and chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Northeast Ohio.

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Planned Parenthood Affiliates of Ohio released their monthly Thanks and Spanks last week. The organization's cheers and jeers go to two groups or individuals who have made a difference in reproductive rights, either good or bad.

Thanks to Governor Ted Strickland for Supporting Women and Teens

This month, we're thanking one person for two actions...

Gov. Strickland vetoed a budget provision, inserted by the Ohio Senate, that would have required the Ohio Department of Health to apply for federal abstinence-only funds.

According to a Columbus Dispatch editorial:

Studies show that teens in abstinence-only programs are no more likely to refrain from sex than are other teens. And some studies suggest abstinence-only curricula can be harmful because teens don't learn alternatives that can help protect them from pregnancy and diseases if they don't abstain from sex.

Also...

The governor also took a leadership position in support of the Medicaid Family Planning State Option. Fifteen governors joined him in signing a letter to the Congressional leadership as part of a campaign to include the State Option as part of health care reform. The Medicaid Family Planning State Option is a proven-effective approach to expanding coverage for basic, primary health care services, while at the same time generating significant cost savings for states and the federal government.

Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) and the National Women's Law Center (NWLC) applauded Gov. Strickland for submitting the letter. This critical provision provides basic preventive health care, including breast and cervical cancer screenings and contraception, to millions of women and is currently in President Obama's fiscal year 2010 budget.

“We applaud Governor Ted Strickland for championing this letter and the governors who joined him in expressing support for the Medicaid Family Planning State Option,” said Cecile Richards, PPFA president. “We know firsthand the lifesaving care these programs provide to women and families across the country. And governors recognize that ensuring the expansion of Medicaid family planning is vital to any comprehensive health care reform effort.”

Spanks to Those Playing Politics with Health Care Reform

There are two core reasons why members of Congress oppose health care reform: either they genuinely disagree with reform proposals, or they are trying to make political gains at the expense of Americans waiting for better health care. It is that second group that should be ashamed of themselves.

These proposals are serious, and every legislator owes their constituents serious answers about what they are doing to improve health care in America. As a key health care provider, Planned Parenthood wants to make sure women, men, and teens have access to comprehensive reproductive health care services under any reform package that Congress passes. Women must not be worse off after health care reform than they are today.

When asked by CNBC how much of the GOP's opposition to health care reform proposals backed by President Obama is driven by a desire to "declaw" the president politically, Senator George Voinovich (R-Ohio) said, "I think it's probably 50/50."(Click here for video)

We agree with Senator Voinovich: some members of Congress are not acting responsibly and in their constituents' best interests. We will not stand for lawmakers abusing our health for their gain.

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