What about women’s healthcare?
To the editor:
After so many failed attempts by so many well-intentioned politicians to get healthcare reform in this country, is it finally going to happen? And if it is, a key question for us is: what about women? Will women’s reproductive healthcare be included – or will women once again be shortchanged and poorly served? We hear that Congress is debating the subject right now. They need to hear from all of us.
Six in 10 patients who receive care at a women’s health center consider it their primary source of health care. Because of that, protections must be put in place to guarantee that any healthcare plan includes reproductive healthcare and that women can access essential community healthcare providers like Planned Parenthood.
Going to a women’s health center for contraception is many women’s entry into the healthcare world – and the great news is that while they are there for contraception, health centers like Planned Parenthood can take care of a lot of other basic preventive health care that they might not otherwise receive.
Today, one in four women who receives contraceptive care does so at a women’s health center. One in six women who obtain a Pap test or a breast exam do so at a women’s health center, as do one-third of women who receive counseling, testing or treatment for STDs, including HIV.
From cancer screenings to contraception to immunizations, the majority of women who go to women’s health care centers consider them their primary healthcare provider. More than 90 percent of what Planned Parenthood health centers do is preventive and primary care.
In addition, as our nation’s economic crisis worsens and families lose or have reduced insurance benefits, more women are turning to women’s health centers for basic healthcare because they are affordable. Last year alone, our health centers here in southwest and central Florida saw more than 60,000 patient visits.
Women’s reproductive healthcare is still not fully part of mainstream health care even though 98 percent of women use contraception at some point in their lives. What is more universal than that?
Barbara A. Zdravecky
President/CEO
Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida