No Debate with the Public: New Poll Shows Strong Support for the Birth Control Benefit
By | April 22, 2014, 5:56 p.m.
Category: Birth Control
As the Supreme Court considers if corporations can be required to cover birth control in insurance plans like other preventive care, a new JAMA, the Journal of American Medicine poll shows there’s no debate among the public.
According to the poll, a huge swath of Americans, 69 percent support the provision in the Affordable Care Act requiring insurance companies to cover the full range of FDA-approved contraception methods. The study also found that women overall, and especially African-American and Hispanic respondents, were more likely to support the birth control benefit than men, older respondents, and adults without children younger than 18 years.
For women and families this is not a political or social issue — this is about equality for women and access to basic, preventive health care.
It’s 2014 and 99 percent of sexually active women age 15-44 have used birth control at some time in their lives. It’s a provision that makes for good public health. Which is likely why a huge majority of Americans think it should be covered.
For women, birth control is basic preventive health care. Just like dental care or mental health care. If health insurance isn’t covering birth control, it’s not actually covering women’s needs. So while we wait for the Supreme Court to decide if bosses can control whether their employees get birth control coverage, it’s worth noting what the most Americans believe. They believe it should be covered, just like other preventive services.
Tags: Obamacare, birth control
