Posted on 05/24/2011 6:57:06 AM PDT by flowerplough
Studies released Thursday by the Guttmacher Institute and the Brookings Institution show that unintended pregnancies in the U.S. cost taxpayers roughly $11 billion per year. The Guttmacher Institute notes that this estimate is conservative, as it is only considers public insurance costs for pregnancy and first-year infant care. The studies also find that government programs could save billions by preventing unintended pregnancies.
The Guttmacher study found that 64% of births resulting from unintended pregnancies were to women enrolled in publicly funded health care programs, while only 35% of intended births were publicly funded. Adam Sonfield, one of the study’s authors, remarked, "At a time when policymakers everywhere are looking for ways to cut costs under Medicaid, these findings point clearly to a way to achieve that goal by expanding access to health care, not cutting it."
Adam Thomas, an author of the Brookings Institution's study, said "Like Sonfield and colleagues, we find that the potential public savings from preventing unintended pregnancy are enormous." The Brookings study found that taxpayers could save about $5.6 billion annually through efforts to prevent those pregnancies.
The study comes at a time when a number of states are considering legislation to cut family planning. Earlier this month, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels signed a bill making Indiana the first state to defund Planned Parenthood. Lawmakers in Kansas and North Carolina are attempting to pass similar legislation.
I’d bet you dollars to donuts that if abortion were ended today, and easy welfare, you’d see a lot more youth becoming celibate. Probably not right away but, once they figured things out, they’d reverse that trend real quick.
So once again the problem is not MY view on abortion, but the left’s implementation of socialism!
This is a perfect justification for apartheid. Killing unwanted low income low class babies saves money. The killing class hard at work.
We need to just make sure no one that is not married, has sex. We should make it illegal.
Yep. The incredibly complex concept of how to prevent pregnancy can only be understood with government intervention.
All of a sudden, Planned Parenthood is a deficit-cutting measure. Who knew.
Just quit spending tax dollars on these pregnancies. Let these people pay their own way for their pregnancies and you will see the problem of illegitimacy significantly reduced. If the government subsidizes something, it will increase; if the government refuses to subsidize something and the costs of it outweigh the "benefits" of it, then it will decrease.
If everyone were to experience the consequences of their behavioral choices, instead of foisting those consequences off on someone else,
we’d see a lot less of those behaviors.
No need to make adultery illegal,
just don’t allow the adulterers to foist the consequences on others.
This goes for other behavioral choices as well.
Is that working in the countries where it’s illegal?
Yes, dear, things are so much better without the lebensunwertes leben.
And whoever made the comment had it just right: If abortion were not easily available as a "backstop," boys could not use that fact to pressure girls to give them the extra "base." Those pregnancies (tragically, for PP) simply would not occur.
they’re complaining about the costs to tax-payers, but I bet they support every bit of legislation that causes that.
Ah, yes. You get what you pay for.
How did they determine if a pregnancy was 'intended' or not? Why would 1/3 of the women on welfare, (according to their own study, I suspect it is more) purposely get pregnant again?
I don't see how abortion could be any more available than it is now. Apparently there is a constitutional right to abortion. And what about these so-called 'unintended' pregnancies anyway? Didn't the liberals promise us that there would be no more unintended pregnancies if we only allowed sex education? Didn't they say there would be no more unwanted babies if we only made abortion legal? Medicaid already covers birth control. What more do these people want?
I believe that if you want to stop these 'unintended' pregnancies, then you need to stop paying for them. (with welfare, duh).
However, they still have decided if “unplanned pregnancies” cause “global warming” or if they are caused by “global warming”. A “study” is being developed at this time.
“When we, through our educational culture, through the media, through the entertainment culture, give our children the impression that human beings cannot control their passions... we are telling them, in effect, that human beings cannot be trusted with freedom.” Alan Keyes
Here’s a solution. YOU set up a foundation of like minded folk and pay for whatever social ill you choose to pay for, and leave the rest of the people alone. You can funnel enough money to finally end problems like this right out of existence! Right? Right?
Agreed. Even a child who is made to pay for his own toys from his own money becomes very choosey about which toys he wants to buy.
Wouldn’t work. As long as people are people, they will continue to have sex, regardless of the consequences. It’s just the way it is. I think the only thing that would change it, is for it to go on a national ballot, and that won’t happen. Politicians are going to say whatever they need to say to get elected.
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