In The News This Morning: How Access To Birth Control Leads To Fewer Abortions and Bob Marshall Wants To Restrict Access To Birth Control

This morning two articles regarding women’s health appeared in the Richmond Times-Dispatch and Fredricksburg.com.

The article “Study shows free birth control leads to fewer abortions“, from the Associated Press, details how free contraceptives resulted in lower rates of abortions and teen births.

Free birth control led to dramatically lower rates of abortions and teen births, a large study concludes. The findings were eagerly anticipated and come as a bitterly contested Obama administration policy is poised to offer similar coverage.

The project tracked more than 9,000 women in St. Louis, many of them poor or uninsured. They were given their choice of a range of contraceptive methods at no cost — from birth control pills to goof-proof options like the IUD or a matchstick-sized implant.

When price wasn’t an issue, women flocked to the most effective contraceptives — the implanted options, which typically cost hundreds of dollars up-front to insert. These women experienced far fewer unintended pregnancies as a result, reported Dr. Jeffrey Peipert of Washington University in St. Louis in a study published Thursday.

The effect on teen pregnancy was striking: There were 6.3 births per 1,000 teenagers in the study. Compare that to a national rate of 34 births per 1,000 teens in 2010…Read the entire article at the Richmond Times-Dispatch

The second article, “Marshall introduces bills to restrict birth control mandate” by Chelyen Davis, details how Delegate Bob Marshall (R – Prince William) filed two bills in the 2013 Virginia General Assembly which are meant to counter the federal Department of Health and Human Services mandate for access to contraception.

Virginia employers would not be required to cover birth control in the health insurance policies offered to workers under new proposals from Del. Bob Marshall.

Two bills filed Wednesday for the 2013 General Assembly session by Marshall, R-Prince William, say that any health insurance company that offers plans covering “contraception methods, sterilization procedures, or abortifacient drugs or devices” must also offer a plan that does not cover those items.

The bills also specify that no employer that provides health care coverage is required to include such coverage and employers who do want their employees’ health plans to include such coverage must specifically request it.

Marshall, ardently pro-life, has long been known for his efforts to legislate against abortion. In the 2012 legislative session he was the sponsor of the controversial “personhood” bill, which said “unborn children at every stage of development enjoy all the rights, privileges, and immunities available to other persons”— essentially declaring that life begins at conception, a legal position that opponents feared would outlaw contraception. That bill narrowly failed to pass…Read the entire article at Fredricksburg.com