[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 1403-1404]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            FAMILY PLANNING

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today many of our constituents are in town 
for the annual March for Life. They are expressing their strong 
concerns about an issue that has divided our Nation for decades: 
abortion.
  This issue divides legislatures. It divides churches and communities. 
It even divides families. Parents often disagree with their children. 
Two sisters or two brothers may see the issue differently. Even 
husbands and wives may not see eye to eye.
  And yet, the American people look to their elected leaders to come 
together and address the issue.
  My position on the fundamental issue is clear: abortion should be 
safe and legal, consistent with Roe v. Wade. A decision this personal 
is best left to a woman, her family, her doctor, and her conscience.
  But I don't think the issue ends there. We may never reach a 
consensus on abortion itself, but we can go beyond the divisions, 
acknowledge that women have a right to an abortion in America, and 
still work together to reduce the number of abortions.
  So I would like to take a step back and talk about some of the things 
we can do to prevent unwanted pregnancies, which is a goal I think all 
of us in this chamber share.
  Nearly half of all pregnancies in the United States are unplanned 
that is almost 3 million times a year that a woman and a man are 
confronted with the news that, contrary to their intentions, the woman 
is pregnant.
  We can make a greater effort to ensure that couples have access to 
the information and services they need to prevent unwanted pregnancies.
  First, we need to invest in comprehensive evidence-based teen 
pregnancy prevention programs. Nearly 1 million teen girls become 
pregnant each year, and it's time we focus on helping them prevent 
those pregnancies.
  Next, we need to ensure that women can afford contraception by 
expanding funding for the Title X family planning program, which 
provides a critical safety net that both improves women's health and 
saves taxpayers money.
  Low-income women are four times more likely to have unintended 
pregnancies than their higher-income peers. Democrats have proposed 
that

[[Page 1404]]

women who are entitled to Medicaid-funded labor and delivery also be 
given access to family planning services through the Medicaid program. 
If we will cover the childbirth, why would we not cover the prevention 
services that would help avoid the unintended pregnancy?
  And for women with private health insurance, we must ensure that FDA-
approved prescription contraceptives are covered to the same extent as 
other prescription drugs and devices. If we want women and men to take 
the responsible steps to avoid unintended pregnancies, we must give 
them access to the family planning options that will empower them to do 
so. Ensuring that contraceptive coverage is a covered service in our 
health plans is a commonsense way to address that issue.
  It is also time to restore common sense in other areas.
  Women must have timely and medically accurate information about 
another alternative: emergency contraception.
  This product is FDA approved, and can prevent pregnancy and thus the 
need for abortion. Greater awareness of it could substantially reduce 
the staggering number of unintended pregnancies.
  The facts are also on the side of lifting the so-called ``Mexico 
City'' policy that controls how family planning organizations in other 
countries may use their own funds. The global gag rule requires that, 
as a condition for receipt of U.S. funding, private and international 
organizations must agree not to use their own non-American funds to 
perform abortions, provide abortion counseling, or even lobby to make 
or keep abortion legal in their countries.
  By law, Federal funds cannot be used for abortions. Audits have 
demonstrated that, in the years when the Mexico City policy has been 
lifted, Federal funds have not been used for abortions. So this is not 
about abortion.
  This is about whether international family planning programs will be 
allowed the same rights of freedom of speech and action that domestic 
programs have. We should not be dictating what groups do with their own 
independent funds as a condition of receiving U.S. family planning 
funding.
  So often, the battle over abortion has been extended into unnecessary 
battles over contraception. But there are other policy areas where 
people who disagree over abortion should be able to come together.
  First, we need to support pregnant women when they find themselves in 
a difficult situation.
  We must work to ensure that they have access to health care both 
before and after the child is born; parenting programs; income support; 
nutrition assistance; and caring adoption alternatives.
  Finally, we must look beyond the immediate crises and work to address 
the underlying conditions that can affect a couple's response to an 
unplanned pregnancy. Affordable health care, secure jobs with good 
wages, expanded child care options, and improved educational assistance 
can make it easier for a couple to welcome a child into the family. 
These, again, are areas where we should be able to come together and 
make progress.

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