Roe vs Wade Discussion Post
February 2023
Roe vs Wade Discussion Post
I believe that past policies to combat drug use and advance women's rights in the US have partly failed. Addiction rates and imprisonment rates have risen despite the war on drugs and tough drug laws. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, there were over 70,000 drug overdose deaths in 2019-2022, and the United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world, with over 2 million people in prison (Rosas, 2023). Similarly, restrictions on abortion have been passed in numerous states, and women's rights have generally been jeopardized by restrictive abortion laws (Turan & Budhwani, 2021). Many women have been compelled to seek dangerous, illegal abortions as a result of these laws' restrictions on their access to reproductive healthcare.
The provision of comprehensive sex education in schools is one policy area that has had some success in the past. Although not all states mandate sex education in schools, research has shown that students are more likely to postpone sexual activity, use contraception, and have fewer sexual partners when it is offered (Benton et al., 2020). As Secretary of Health and Human Services, I would continue to support and expand comprehensive sex education in schools, ensuring that it is evidence-based and inclusive of diverse communities. Additionally, I would fight to broaden access to reasonably priced and effective contraception, such as intrauterine devices (IUDs), which have been proven to be quite successful at preventing unplanned pregnancies (Smith-McCune et al., 2020).
Abstinence-only sex education is one area of policy that has failed. Studies have revealed that abstinence-only programs are mostly useless, despite being pushed as a means of preventing adolescent pregnancy and STDs. Clonan-Roy et al. (2021) assert that students who get abstinence-only education are more likely to engage in unprotected intercourse and less likely to take contraception than their counterparts who receive comprehensive sex education. As a result, if I were Secretary of Health and Human Services, I would stop offering government funds for programs that encourage abstinence-only practice and instead put money into programs that offer young people accurate information about sex and sexuality.
I would suggest a policy to increase everyone's access to reproductive healthcare, regardless of their financial situation or location, to alleviate the abortion issue. The objectives of this program would be to provide access to inexpensive contraception, increase financing for planned parenthood and other reproductive health clinics, and strive to reform restrictive abortion legislation. I would also suggest a program that gives all expectant women equitable information and assistance, as well as access to prenatal care, parenting resources, and adoption services. The goal of this program would be to decrease the number of unplanned pregnancies while also offering assistance to women who decide to carry their pregnancies to term. By investing in comprehensive reproductive healthcare, we can help to ensure that all people have the freedom to make the decisions that are best for themselves and their families (Taouk et al., 2018).
References
Benton, A. D., Santana, A., Vinklarek, A. J., Lewis, C. M., Sorensen, J. M., & Hernandez, A. (2020). Peer-led sexual health education: Multiple perspectives on benefits for peer health educators. Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal, 37(5), 487–496. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-020-00661-9
Clonan-Roy, K., Goncy, E. A., Naser, S. C., Fuller, K. A., DeBoard, A., Williams, A., & Hall, A. (2021). Preserving abstinence and preventing rape: How sex education textbooks contribute to rape culture. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 50(1), 231–245. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-020-01816-6
Rosas, R. (2023). From junkies to victims: The racial projects of the anti-drug abuse Act of 1986 and the U.S. opioid epidemic. Rhetoric of Health & Medicine, 6(1), 95–. https://doi.org/10.5744/rhm.2022.6005
Smith-McCune, K., Reuben, T., Averbach, S., Seidman Dominika, Takeda, M., Houshdaran Sahar, & Giudice, L. C. (2020). Differential effects of the hormonal and copper intrauterine device on the endometrial transcriptome. Scientific Reports, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-63798-8
Taouk, L. H., Fialkow, M. F., & Schulkin, J. A. (2018). Provision of reproductive healthcare to women with disabilities: A survey of obstetrician–gynecologists’ training, practices, and perceived barriers. Health Equity, 2(1), 27–215. https://doi.org/10.1089/heq.2018.0014
Turan, J. M., & Budhwani, H. (2021). Restrictive abortion laws exacerbate stigma, resulting in harm to patients and providers. American Journal of Public Health (1971), 111(1), 37–39. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2020.305998