Hobby Lobby 2: Inside Republicans' Plan to Kill America's Most Effective Anti-Teen-Pregnancy Program

[G_j]

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/02/colorado-iud-teen-pregnancy-abortion

An innovative program has reduced the abortion rate and saved a state millions. Here's why it's doomed.
—By Nick Baumann | Wed Feb. 11, 2015 6:15 AM EST

Late in 2007, an employee at the Colorado health department received an unusual request. A private foundation wanted the state to provide long-acting, reversible birth control—intrauterine devices and hormonal implants—to low- and moderate-income women at little or no cost. The foundation was willing to foot the bill—which ended up being $27.4 million—so long as it was allowed to remain anonymous.

Seven years later, the program has been, by most measures, a huge success. Teen birthrates are dropping across the country, but Colorado's has fallen faster than the nationwide average, allowing it to leapfrog 11 spots in the national rankings. Between 2010 and 2012, the state estimates, 4,300 to 9,700 births to women on the state's Medicaid program that would have otherwise occurred did not—saving Medicaid between $49 million and $111 million. The state's abortion rate has also cratered, falling 42 percent among women ages 15 to 19 and 18 percent among women ages 20 to 24 between 2009 and 2012.

Now the private donor—whose identity remains secret—is ending the grant. A bipartisan pair of legislators in the Democrat-controlled state House have introduced a bill to use state money to continue the program. But in the state Senate, where the GOP holds a one-vote majority, abortion politics—and the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby decision—may scuttle the plan.

At issue are some abortion foes' beliefs that IUDs can cause abortions—the same belief that led to the Oklahoma-based hobby chain's lawsuit against the Obama administration's requirement that employers provide insurance that covers contraception or pay a fine. Most scientists say IUDs primarily work by preventing fertilization. But some IUDs can occasionally prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in a woman's uterus. Fertilized eggs often fail to implant, even without birth control, so most doctors define abortion as the termination of an already implanted pregnancy.

But many conservatives who believe human life begins at conception consider preventing implantation akin to abortion.

..more..

[world wide wally]

1. Thank you once again Supreme Court for your insightful, nonpartisan wisdom and vision

(I wish I had one of those sarcasm things)

[Initech]

2. These scumbags are the lowest of low.

They don't give any sort of shit about life. They only care about abortion, and they go berserk at the mere mention of sex. They're no better than the Taliban.

[Stargazer99]

4. I had not thought about it that way but spot on!

[Stargazer99]

3. They want more cheap labor....gotta keep those women producing

It doesn't matter if a child is a wanted child or even if their basic needs are met though the safety net
How much more human misery than the conservatives create?

[jwirr]

5. I had the opportunity to go into a Hobby Lobby last week. Wanted to see what they sold. I was

disappointed. I do not think they are going to last long in my community. They sell junk. Things people with economic problems do not buy or should not buy. And we are not the 1% up here. I looked at the one thing in their store that I might have wanted - embroidery supplies - and they did not have anything worth buying. Nothing for children, no iron on designs, no hoops. Big waste of time. The store was all but empty and I suspect this may very well reflect their welcome in our community.