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Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper rolled out a plan Thursday to expand access to contraception, particularly for low-income women in rural areas.
Responding to a wave of efforts by the Trump administration and Republican-controlled states to cut funding to Planned Parenthood, enact new abortion curbs and make it easier for employers to opt out of providing insurance coverage of birth control, Hickenlooper predicts his plan would both save the government money and reduce the number of women seeking abortions.
What would the plan do?
Hickenlooper’s plan revives an effort he shepherded in Colorado a decade ago that increased funding for clinics that serve low-income and uninsured women, trained more health care providers in the use of long acting reversible contraception like IUDs and invested in outreach to young adults.
Hickenlooper would increase funding for the federal Title X family planning program by $700 million, undo a Trump administration rule that’s been blocked by federal courts and would effectively deny program funding to Planned Parenthood, train more providers and launch a national outreach campaign to make more people aware of the benefits of LARC, which are more effective than other contraceptive methods.
How would it work?
LARC can cost several hundred dollars, putting them out of reach for many women. The Affordable Care Act made the contraception free for women with insurance. Hickenlooper’s plan targets the remaining uninsured population, millions of whom depend on Title X-funded clinics for access to free and subsidized birth control. The proposal would make these clinics available in more areas and ensure that the providers working in those clinics offer LARC as an option along with birth control pills and other methods.
Hickenlooper said his Colorado initiative saved $5.85 in Medicaid costs alone for every dollar the state spent, lowered the teen pregnancy rate by 54 percent and lowered the teen abortion rate by 64 percent. These results in a purple swing state, he said, should convince people across the political spectrum to support the nationwide plan.
What are the weaknesses in the proposal?
Hickenlooper acknowledges that the plan is likely to face significant political opposition, citing his experience on the state level, where Republicans repeatedly tried to block taxpayer funding for the program.
Additionally, even those supportive of the concept may balk at the cost to taxpayers. With the number of uninsured people in the country increasing over the last couple years after a steep decline, the funding required for the program to reach all the women who may need access could be much more than anticipated.
There are also widespread misconceptions and a lack of awareness about LARC that the program would have to work to overcome.
What have other Democrats proposed?
Much of the Democratic field has pledged to roll back the Trump administration’s Title X rule that would have cut funding to Planned Parenthood, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.)
Several others, including Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), have similarly promised to undo the Trump administration’s rule allowing employers to opt out of providing insurance coverage for contraception.
Who would it help?
Hickenlooper’s plan is aimed squarely at helping women of reproductive age who lack health insurance — a disproportionate number of whom are low-income women of color. It aims to increase services and support for the roughly four million women in the country who depend on Title X funding for access to contraception and other health care needs.
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Who opposes it?
Some conservative lawmakers and anti-abortion advocacy groups are fiercely opposed to LARC because they consider it a form of abortion rather than a contraceptive method because the devices in some circumstances prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus.