Bang for the buck

Wow. Did you hear? Money spent on family planning prevents unintended pregnancies!

From the Guttmacher Institute:

By providing millions of young and low-income women access to voluntary contraceptive services, the national family planning program prevents 1.94 million unintended pregnancies, including almost 400,000 teen pregnancies, each year. These pregnancies would result in 860,000 unintended births, 810,000 abortions and 270,000 miscarriages, according to a new Guttmacher Institute report.

Absent publicly funded family planning services, the U.S. abortion rate would be nearly two-thirds higher than it currently is, and nearly twice as high among poor women.

Publicly funded family planning services are highly cost-effective. More than nine in 10 women receiving them would be eligible for Medicaid-funded prenatal, delivery and postpartum care services if they became pregnant. Avoiding the significant costs associated with these unintended births saves taxpayers $4 for every $1 spent on family planning.
. . .

More than nine million women received publicly funded contraceptive services in 2006. Most (7.2 million) received their care from the national network of family planning centers. Another two million women received Medicaid-funded family planning care from private doctors. Six in 10 women who get care at a family planning center, including three out of four who are poor, consider the center to be their usual source of health care, according to the report.

“Many low-income women get their basic health care for the year during an annual visit to a family planning center,” says Gold. “The package of services they receive not only includes contraceptive counseling and the provision of a contraceptive method. It also includes pelvic and breast exams, tests for HIV and other STIs, screenings for reproductive cancers, high blood pressure and diabetes, and referrals to other health providers when necessary. This is essential, preventive health care for disadvantaged women.”

Sound like pretty good bang for the buck, doesn't it?

But natch, the forced-pregnancy gang at LifeShite isn't buying this sciency stuff. Here's the headline: 'Pro-Abortion Group Falsely Claims Family Planning Programs Reduce Abortions'.

In looking for more reaction, I was amused to find this at a site that includes Five Feet of Racism as its 'Conservative Politics Watchdog'.

This is as excited as their reporter got:

The Guttmacher Institute is generally respected by experts and activists who do not share its advocacy of abortion rights. However this report favoring more funding for family planning may not be met with applause.

Ooh, take that you nasty generally respected institute!