Health Care Policy in the United States

Health Care Policy in the United States Today Under the Obama Administration: The Issue of Abortion

The objective of this study is to examine how well government's role in health care is working and how it may be improved and to evaluate the current health care policy in America and determine how it could be improved to please both the public and the government.

Current Policies on Abortion

Nine U.S. states including: (1) Alabama; (2) Georgia; (3) Idaho; (4) Kansas; (5) Louisiana; (6) Nebraska; (7) Indiana; (8) North Carolina; and (8) Arizona, has enacted laws prohibiting abortions at 20 weeks and in some states even earlier. The basis of these laws is the theory that a fetus "from 20 weeks onward can experience pain from an abortion procedure." (The Pew Forum, 2013, p.1) Arizona is reported to have enacted a fetal plan law that is very rigorous in that abortions are barred at 20 weeks, reported to be measured "from the first day of the pregnant woman's last menstrual period, and allows exceptions only in cases in which continuation of the pregnancy presents a severe risk of either death or serious and irreversible health impairment. A group of abortion providers in Arizona challenged the law in federal court. However, in July 2012, a federal district court refused to block enforcement of the law. The district court judge in the case, Isaacson v. Horne, found that credible scientific evidence supported the state legislature's judgment that a fetus of at least 20 weeks' development can experience pain. The judge also found that mid-pregnancy abortions present higher health risks to women than earlier ones, and that the state's interests in protecting fetuses and women justified the prohibition." (The Pew Forum, 2013, p.1) The laws that prohibit abortions at 20 weeks are however in conflict with rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court and the Pew Forum reports sates that the Court signaled in Carhart that it is willing to review "important premises in this legal debate." ( )

History of Abortion and Abortion Laws

The history of abortion is a long-standing issue and was an issue for debate previous to the 1973 Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade that made abortion legal and indicated an important shift in public health policy. Abortion has been performed for many thousands of years and was legal in the United States when it was first settled. During the late 1800s, laws were passed in the U.S. states making abortion illegal. During the 1800s abortion, like other surgical procedures was high-risk procedures. As science has become more informed the procedure is much safer however, women wanting abortions were forced to procure the procedure from illegal practitioners termed as 'back alley' abortions by news media. Legal abortions were prohibited form the 1880s until 1973. Prior to the passing of Roe v. Wade, there were as many as 1.2 million illegal abortions each year and thousands of women were harmed by the back alley abortionists. Between the years of 1967 and 1973, one-third of U.S. states repealed their criminal abortion laws. By 1973, all U.S. states allowed legal abortions. After the 1973, history making case supporters of legal abortion were thrilled but others were not so happy. Those who opposed illegal abortions set about working to prevent funding from at the national and state level for abortions and they even demonstrated in front of clinics, vandalized clinics, blocked access to clinic, and eventually abortion clinics were even bombed. In 1994, the Congress passed the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act in response to the murder of Dr. David Gunn. In 2000, the Nebraska statute banning 'partial-birth abortion' was ruled unconstitutional in the case Stenberg v. Carhart (Carhart I), one because the statute is reported to be lacking in the "necessary exception for preserving the health of the woman, and secondly, "the definition of the targeted procedures is so broad as to prohibit abortions in the second trimester, thereby being an 'undue burden' on women. This effective invalidates 29 of 31 similar statewide bans." ( ) In 2000, the Food and Drug Administration approved mifepristone (RU-486) as an abortion care option for pregnancies that are in the very early stages. In 2003, the Congress passed a federal ban on abortion procedures, which President Bush signed, into law. The law was challenged in court by the National Abortion Federation and was successful in block the law's enforcement. In 2004, the National Abortion Federation won a lawsuit against a federal abortion ban. The Justice Department appealed rulings by three trial courts against the ban. In April 2007, in the case Gonzalez v. Carhart and Gonzalez v. Planned Parenthood Federal of America, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a federal law known as the partial birth abortion act. This ruling is reported as a "departure from past high court decisions which required any restrictive abortion law to include an exception to protect women's health." (The Pew Forum, 2013, p.1)

Problem Abortion Policy Aimed at Resolving

The problem that the abortion policy in the United States has been focused on resolving is the problems associated with illegal abortions, which are performed under insanitary conditions and by individuals not certified or licensed to perform such procedures.

Social and Economic Factors Affecting Origins, Development and Implementation

The social factors that affect the origins, development and implementation of U.S. policy on abortion include the various and diverse mindsets and beliefs that exist in regards to the ethical and religiously-based view of abortion procedures.