Issue Position: Reproductive Rights

Issue Position

While politicians have spent the last several decades arguing over Roe v. Wade, I actually want to do something about this issue by encouraging birth control and providing health care for expectant mothers:

* Half of the pregnancies in America are unintended, and half of the unintended pregnancies end in abortion. We need to restructure education and health care policies to reduce the numbers of unintended pregnancies and abortions.

* The universal health care program that I support would drastically reduce the number of abortions in America. According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, about two-thirds of the women who have abortions do so because they cannot afford a child. My plan would cover medical expenses and provide lifelong health care, from birth to death.

* Contraceptive use and education are proven methods of reducing unintended pregnancies. As much as 43% of the decline in abortions between 1994 and 2000 can be attributed to the use of emergency contraception.

* We should ask questions of regulatory agencies that simply stand by when insurance companies cover the cost of Viagra but not the cost of birth control pills.

Finally, we must protect the right of a woman to choose what she will do when she does become pregnant. This is an extremely difficult decision, but it is her extremely difficult decision, not yours or mine or Uncle Sam's. This should be a private matter between a woman and her physician.

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