Arizona Limits Choice; Ends Up Paying For 53% Of Births
It is surely karmic justice for Arizona, the place that most loves to limit reproductive choice, that the government is now paying for 53% of all births within state borders.
According to Dana Wolfe Naimark, president of the Children’s Action Alliance, the Arizona legislature, in this session alone, has done the following:
- cut women’s access to contraceptive services
- refused to hear bills that would expand sex education in the schools
- placed more limits on abortion access.
While the percentage of births paid for by AHCCCS, Arizona’s form of Medicaid, passed the 50% mark in 2003, state lawmakers were clueless about the trend. When contacted by The ArizonaRepublic, Rep. John Kavanagh, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said, “I had no idea that the number had grown to that ridiculous level.” Sen. Linda Gray, head of the Senate human-services committee, said, “Wow” when informed of the numbers. Her solution was that parents and churches should encourage more people to marry.
Well, how about that. Limiting access to abortion and contraceptives is costing the state more money.
There it is, cold, hard, reality. And it will be completely ignored by the right.
