Feminists Commend Sec. Thompson
for Health Coverage of Women and Unborn Children

Feminists for Life President Serrin Foster is celebrating a significant change in regulation that will benefit both uninsured women and their unborn children.

HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson issued a new regulation allowing states to expand prenatal care and labor and delivery services for women who are uninsured but not eligible for Medicaid. An estimated 10.9 million women of childbearing age do not have health insurance. This change to the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) will enable states to provide for the health needs of pregnant women who might otherwise not receive care.

“It is well documented that prenatal care can improve health outcomes for both mothers and children. Yet the United States has high rates of infant mortality, premature delivery and low birth weight compared to other developed countries,” said Foster. “Most uninsured American women lack access to prenatal health care because they cannot afford the out-of-pocket expenses.”

Feminists for Life (FFL) believes that no woman should be denied essential health care simply because she is pregnant and poor. FFL has long advocated replicating New York State’s implementation of SCHIP, which includes prenatal care. The proposed change by HHS is a quicker, more comprehensive means to that end.

Until now, SCHIP allowed states to provide health care coverage to targeted low-income children from birth to age 19. With the change, states could provide coverage for children starting from conception. This is consistent with the policies of the American Academy of Pediatrics, which states that the “physical and psychosocial growth, development, and health of the individual begins prior to birth when conception is apparent and continues throughout infancy, childhood, adolescence and early adulthood … The responsibility of pediatrics may therefore begin with the fetus and continue through 21 years of age.”

The expanded SCHIP would give many women who are not eligible for Medicaid the resources to deliver healthy children. Equally important, pregnant women at risk of complications would receive the medical treatment they need and deserve.

“While we congratulate Sec. Thompson for refusing to choose between women and children, families and friends will soon be able to congratulate new parents when healthy babies are born to healthy mothers,” said Foster.

For more information on Feminists for Life, go to www.feministsforlife.org.