Senators Clinton, Reid pen op-ed on reducing abortions

RAW STORY
Published: Friday April 14, 2006

Two leading Democrat Senators "on opposite sides of the abortion debate" penned an op-ed together on their shared goal in reducing abortions and "unintended pregnancies," RAW STORY has found.

"There is no question that the rate of unintended pregnancy is too high in the United States," the editorial written by Sen. Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY). "Half of the six million pregnancies each year in this country are unintended, and nearly half of these unplanned pregnancies end in abortion. It doesn't have to be this way."

Making "family planning services more accessible to low-income women" is one of the ideas the editorial touts.

Excerpts from the op-ed set to run in Saturday's papers:

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As two senators on opposite sides of the abortion debate, we recognize that one side will not suddenly convince the other to drop its deeply held beliefs. And we believe that, while disagreeing, we can work together to find common ground. We believe that it is necessary for all Americans to join together and embrace policies that will reduce the number of unintended pregnancies, decrease abortions and improve access to women's health care.

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In the Senate, we have long championed the Prevention First Act. This legislation would help to reduce the rates of unintended pregnancy in our nation, decrease abortions and improve access to women's health care.

Our proposal includes common-ground, common-sense policies.

It makes family planning services more accessible to low-income women. It improves awareness and understanding of emergency contraception, a poorly understood yet highly effective form of contraception. It ensures that government-funded sex education programs provide medically-accurate information about contraception.

It also ends insurance discrimination against women. Right now, many policies cover Viagra, but not prescription contraceptives. That is wrong, and our legislation will change it.

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President Bush and the Republican majority in Congress have promoted budget cuts for a wide range of programs that would provide critical supports for low-income pregnant women and their children. This includes cuts to maternal and child health programs, child care programs, the Community Services Block Grant and the Healthy Start program.

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As two senators who approach this issue from different positions, we have found that we can agree on a common ground that makes good sense and good policy. We hope that the White House and our colleagues in Congress agree and will work with us to put prevention first.

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