February 21, 2012

GOP Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum has been vying for attention by any means as of lately, throwing shots at his direct competitors and also at President Barack Obama. This past weekend Santorum spoke out against a provision in President Obama’s Health Care plan that requires clinicians to provide amniocentesis to expectant mothers for free.

Amniocentesis is a medical testing procedure that takes fluid from a woman’s amniotic sack to test for genetic abnormalities or chromosonal defects in unborn children. The procedure is administered with a needle to the sack and a small sample is removed for testing.

Santorum claims that his oposition to the procedure stems from the “fact” that it encourages abortions and increases the risk of miscarriages. When in actuality studies done by the MayoClinic show that the miscarriage risk associated with amniocentesis are roughly 1 in 400 in the approximate 200,000 tests performed annually.

Although our nation is currently in the red, babies are still being produced and the cost associated with delivering a child range from $9000 – $17000. That does not include the induced expenses associated with prenatal care. The ongoing fight for healthcare for the nearly 50 million Americans without insurance it is what President Obama’s  HealthCare plan represents. Staunch conservatives, like Santorum continue to pick apart any provision that offers free services to individuals without coverage (typically members of the poor/working poor class).

Amnicentesis is a preventive measure that allows women to learn about possible medical issues that their child may have prior to delivery. It should be uncontested that this information is vital to families and not deemed as a luxury to only the people who can afford it.

Surely if Santorum gets the nomination we see he has no support for women’s reproductive choices or free health services. What are your thoughts? Spill the beans below…