Baker Institute Blog


Family planning is a public health issue that shouldn’t be politicized













James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy

11 Responses

  1. Ovbiously says:

    The purpose of taxpayer supported “public health” is to prevent the spread of diseases that can be communicated without contact with the infected individual. The author and apparently the entire ‘public health’ special interest group is trying to convert ‘public health’ into whatever activity it thinks is a ‘good idea’ and it can bring within the scope of its bureaucracy. It is notable the ‘public health’ bureaucrats are identifying such non diseases as motor vehicle safety. This is another example of jurisdiction creep.

  2. DDD says:

    Very eloquently stated. Should meet the approval of your liberal following.

  3. bigmoney says:

    I agree 100%. Family planning is good public policy that has the added bonus of saving taxpayers’ money and giving people a choice and resources to plan their families. It’s a shame that it has become a political issue.

  4. Mark says:

    too bad you are located in Texas, where women’s health doesn’t count at public health.

  5. Nancy Ford says:

    I had forgotten that Title X which provided women with access to low cost contraceptives was signed into law by Richard Nixon. Clearly, family planning is something that makes sense to the majority of Americans and as such bridges political party divides–unless of course it is being used by the fringe elements as a weapon. I also appreciated the author’s “reality check”–contraception, family planning, is something we had debated and accepted decades ago. The fact that current research deals with emerging nations and not our own advanced society is a wake up call. Why is anyone doubting the benefits of family planning in 2012?

  6. Emily says:

    Eloquent and on the mark. Bravo, Elena Marks.

  7. Kimberly says:

    I couldn’t agree more. We spend so much time on international development and not enough time on the issues in our own backyard. Family planning is an important public policy. Contraceptives should be available and provided at a low cost to anyone who so chooses to use them. Every woman should have the right to choose how and when to plan for a family.

  8. Patricia Snyder says:

    Why is it these days that when people disagree, they label one another, closing the door to honest debate to help find the common ground? I personally believe that America dealt with this issue decades ago, but still have a lot to do to continue to keep our common public, healthy. And for me that means making contraceptives and education about contraceptives available for as many people as possible…

  9. Karen1961 says:

    The health benefits of family planning and widely available contraceptives are unquestioned in the scientific and health policy literature, as are the health benefits of many other public health tools cited by the author. We need to use the best tools available to us to achieve healthy babies, women and families.

  10. Brian says:

    I agree that it is good for a married couple to plan their family. However, if someone doesn’t want to pay for abortion or contraception for moral reasons, they shouldn’t be forced to.

    Contraceptives have lead to higher divorce rate, higher rate of STD’s, and unplanned pregnancies are still an alarming high number.

    Why don’t the statistics support your statements to show that we are reaping the benefits of contraceptives? Oh right, because they aren’t true.

    It’s a much more complicated problem that just giving everyone a pill.

  11. georgex says:

    The directive from the Bible to populate the “four corners” of the earth has been fulfilled. Advocating that birth control should not be used puts the sustainability of the planet in jeopardy, families with more children than they can afford and spread of diseases that cause much misery and death. That is an immoral position.