Colorado Frees Women

by Janet Brazill

Women are unique. Only they can reproduce their species. So they have been a necessary element since the beginning of time. And unfortunately, they have often been maintained for this function and little else.  The Christian Bible blames Eve (the first woman “created”) for what they call “original sin,” and because of this, all women must be subservient to men. Some religions still adhere to this denigrating idea.

At its worst, this belief promotes such things as slavery, violence, forced prostitution, genital mutilation and rape. It costs girls and women control over their own bodies and lives. In turn, many are denied access to education and employment. But things are finally changing. Now women in Colorado are easily able to control their own reproductive functions. Such control has decreased the number of abortions in this state. No longer do so many women have to endure the taunts and yells of protesters at abortion clinics – protesters inspired by outdated religious thinking and beliefs. 

Women now have choices. The so-called morning-after pill has been available over the counter at Colorado pharmacies since 2013. King Soopers pharmacists alone have written more than 1,500 prescriptions since 2017. The Wardenburg Health Center on the University of Colorado campus in Boulder has written close to 400.  Albertsons and Safeway stores also allow their pharmacists to write prescriptions for birth control, as do dozens of smaller pharmacies across Colorado. (Walgreens does not participate.)

To write these prescriptions, Colorado pharmacists must complete a four-hour, online training program. Women can obtain the pills within 10 or 15 minutes after walking into a pharmacy and filling out a one-page questionnaire, which asks whether they could be pregnant and their history of migraine headaches, strokes or high blood pressure. 

At the health clinic at CU Boulder, young women who come in for the morning-after pill or birth control are offered several options, including an IUD. The IUD can prevent pregnancy up to 10 years. The pill is less reliable, since a woman must take it daily for it to work effectively. 

Perhaps even more than oral contraceptives, IUDs have contributed to the decline in abortions and unwanted pregnancies, public health officials said. The birth rate for girls ages 15 to 19 in Colorado dropped by more than half in an eight-year period, falling 59% from 2009 to 2017. The abortion rate among Colorado teens fell by 60% during those eight years.

Colorado spent $28 million in grant funds during those years to supply IUDs to 75 public health clinics in Colorado, including several inside high schools. Women and teens received 43,714 free IUDs from 2009 to 2016, thanks to a grant from billionaire Warren Buffett’s family. The grant ended, but the state has maintained the program through state and federal funds, as well as the expansion of Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act. There are 29 contractors who work in 78 clinics throughout Colorado providing free and low-cost IUDs, said Jody Camp, manager of the family planning unit at the state health department. 

Women—enjoy your long-deserved freedom!

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(Information from The Colorado Sun, Oct 21, 2019 – Report by Jennifer Brown: Colorado abortion rates keep declining. Free IUDs and easier access to the pill are the reason)

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Published in the January 1, 2020 edition of the Freethinkers of Colorado Springs Freethought Views in the Colorado Springs Independent with the quotation below.

“If you are against abortions, don't have one.”

Scott Andrews