Success for Another Year

I have been exploring the topic of whether or not the government should fund the institutes that provide women with free or reduced long-term contraceptives in the state of Colorado. I came across the article, “Organizations Pledge $2 Million in Funding to Successful Family Planning Initiative,” which is featured on the website of the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment. After the private funding for family planning services came to an end, there were more than twelve different organizations that united and came up with $2 million to keep the programs afloat for another year. I read in the article that almost fifty percent of pregnancies in Colorado are unintended, and that the Colorado Family Planning Initiative is able to provide 6,000 IUDs to women across the state. Within seven years under the Colorado Family Planning Initiative, abortions and teen birth rates dropped a drastic 48 percent. There are even more funds that are supposed to be coming in
within the next few months.

              
 This article really supports the use of long-term contraceptives and contraceptive in general. I find it amazing that even after funds ran out, and the government questions the validity of funding these organizations, there are still many people that support the program and are willing to donate to it in order to keep it up and running. The first private donation may have been a significantly larger number, but I think that $2 million dollars is quite the number as well. I find it very noteworthy that the numbers of teen births and abortions has dropped 48 percent since the Initiative has been up and running. The drastic drop in the abortion rate is huge alone. I am intrigued by this article and the statistic within it, because so many organizations are supportive of family planning services.
              
 This article is different from my first three posts, because it shows another side of the plot, which is that the family planning services received donations and funds that allow them to be able to keep operating for another year. The other sources that I discussed either gave information about how people feel about funding IUDs, information on the contraceptives themselves, or discussed why funding for long-term birth control is an issue. I like this article because it shows how strongly people feel about keeping the Colorado Family Planning Initiative up and running.

              
 When I first began researching this topic, I was surprised that people would link IUDs and abortions, and I became curious to research further. Once I started researching, I realized that the link that some people had made was not the relative point; the relative point is whether or not the government should help fund the family planning services that provide women with affordable contraceptives. I learned that the Colorado Family Planning Initiative has significantly lowered the number of unwanted pregnancies, the number of teen births, and also the number of abortions in Colorado. I also learned that it is apparent that many people and organizations support these family planning services, because $2 million is not a number that suggests a lack of support.

                After all of my research, I want to argue that the government should support funding of IUDs. The statistics alone show that many positive things have come from the development of the Colorado Family Planning Initiative. Long-term contraceptives are a way to prevent unintended pregnancies, they are safe and effective, and they have drastically reduced the number of teen births and abortions. I find very little reason for the government to not be supportive of these organizations, and very little reason for the government to question the validity of supplying the funds to keep them going.