Congresswoman: We’re Not ‘Promoting Sterilization’ of College Girls, We're Just Making It Free-gctid50210

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Home » News
              Congresswoman: We're Not 'Promoting Sterilization' of College Girls, We're Just Making It Free                                                                        By Elizabeth Harrington
March 19, 2012
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Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D.-Ill.)

 (CNSNews.com) – Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D.-Ill.), a member of the  House Energy and Commerce Committee which has oversight over the  Affordable Care Act (AKA "Obamacare"), said Monday that a new Obamacare  regulation announced on Friday afternoon that requires all student  health insurance plans to  offer college women free sterilizations does  not mean  the government is "promoting sterilization."
 "This isn't about promoting sterilization," said Rep. Schakowsky  said. "No one--there aren't college girls lining up to  become  sterilized because they feel like it."
 

Rep. Xavier  Becerra (D.-Calif.) said critics of the regulation were  making "outlandish  statements," and that the mandate was designed "so a  woman can, in  consultation with her physician, can make a very serious  decision."
 The regulation that the Department of Health and Human Services  announced on Friday says that all student health plans offered by  colleges in the United States must provide the same cost-free  "preventive services" that the administration announced in a final  regulation released last month will be required in virtually all other  health plans sold in the United States.
 The mandate, according to HHS,  requires that the insurance plans provide without any fees or co-pay:  "All Food and Drug Administration approved contraceptive methods,   sterilization  procedures, and patient education and counseling for all   women with reproductive  capacity."
 Schakowsky, Becerra, Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larson  (D-Conn.), Rep. Doris Matsui  (D-Calif.), and Barbara Easterling, the  President of the Alliance for  Retired Americans, held a conference call  with reporters on Monday to mark the upcoming second anniversary of the  enactment of Obamacare.
 During the conference call, CNSNews.com asked: "Do you support the   HHS regulation that requires health insurance companies to provide free   sterilizations to college-age women who want them?"
 Rep. Schakowsky said: "You know, this attack on women's health care   is--I think the compromise that the president has offered and that the   rulemaking from HHS, I think, is a good one. This is not about, you   know, college-age girls getting sterilization when they want it--no."
 President Barack Obama and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.  (AP Photo)

 "I mean, there may be situations where for medical reasons and in   consultation with the doctor that sterilization procedures are warranted   for the health of a young woman," said Schakowsky.
 "Contraception and  related procedures, contraception was declared one of the top 10  preventive health services of the 20^th  century by the Centers  for Disease Control," said Schakowsky, "and the  reason for these regulations is to protect  the health of women, women  of all ages, so that they can afford to get  the preventive care that  they need."
 "This isn't about promoting sterilization," she said of the  regulation that guarantees free sterilizations.   "No one -- there  aren't college girls lining up to become sterilized  because they feel  like it.  And we're talking about medical procedures."
 As CNSNews.com reported,  HHS announced the student-health-plan regulation late on Friday and  released a request-for-comments document on how the student-health-plan  regulation would be implemented that specifically stated that the  regulation would "require coverage, without cost sharing, for '[a]ll  Food  and  Drug Administration approved contraceptive methods,  sterilization   procedures, and patient education and counseling for all  women with   reproductive capacity,' as prescribed by a provider."
 During the conference call, Rep. Xavier Becerra also offered his   support for the regulation and responded to CNSNews.com's question by  criticizing opponents of the  regulation for advancing what he called  "stereotypes" and "misinformation" about the  president's health care  law. "Now when they [critics] talk about sterilization, you and I know   that they're trying to build this up into something that it isn't," said   Becerra. "I think Jan clarified very well what the purpose of the HHS   rulemaking is. It's so a woman can, in consultation with her physician,   can make a very serious decision. It's not one of these fly-by-night   activities that a woman would do without thinking long and hard."
 "So, I hope the press will help us avoid these types of stereotypes   and this misrepresentation that's occurring with regard to the actions   and the legislation that's out there," said Becerra, "because it gives   the American public this wrong perception that there, in fact, are death   panels, or that the government did take over our health care, or that   jobs were killed by the passage of the ACA."
 "That's the farthest thing from the truth," he said.  "And I hope you   all are out there trying to make sure that you're passing along   information -- truthful information -- and probing when folks start to   make those kind of statements, which you and I know are intended to   misrepresent and to deceive the American public."
 Although surgical sterilization is less common among college-age   women than older women, it does occur, even in the pre-Obamacare era   when the federal government has not guaranteed that college-age women   could be sterilized for free.
 According to the Centers for Disease Control's report,  "Use of  Contraception in the United   States: 1982-2008,"  among women  ages  20-24, who are using contraception, 2.4 percent have been  sterilized.   Among those aged 25-29, who are using contraception, 15.0  percent have  been sterilized.
 During the call, Rep. Becerra also said: "I just will add one quick   point here and, Elizabeth, I hope you in the media and the rest of the   folks in the press will help us with something.
 "When I mentioned [earlier], for example, that almost 500,000 new   jobs were created in the health care sector since the passage of the   Affordable Care Act, I wasn't making that number up," he said.
 "You can verify that number. 488,000 jobs have been created in the   health care industry in the last two years," he said.  "When someone   says to you there's been a government take over of health care, there   are death panels, or that the Affordable Care Act is a job killer, it   would help if the press were to probe a little further when folks make   these outlandish statements."