1551 Little Lives
Today, 1,551 little lives will begin with fewer opportunities to be born healthy and have diminished chances of making it to their first birthday because of a decision that these lives do not deserve to be protected. On this day, 1,551 unborn children will lose access to prenatal care, reversing a long-standing policy of providing prenatal care for low-income unborn children in our state who need our support.
Voices for Children in Nebraska believes this change of course is the wrong decision for Nebraska’s babies and Nebraska’s future. Prenatal care saves babies’ lives and provides the best opportunity for a healthy childhood from birth. Women who see a health care provider regularly during pregnancy are more likely to have healthy babies, are less likely to deliver prematurely, and are less likely to have other serious problems related to the pregnancy. Prenatal care matters for a child’s lifetime.
Because we as Nebraskans so value the life that a mother is about to bring into this world, we have always gone to great lengths to ensure that prenatal care is available to women who cannot afford this care without our support. The goal of ensuring access to prenatal care has always been to monitor the progress of the pregnancy and to identify and treat any problems before they become serious. Prenatal care has always been about ensuring that babies are born healthy. To now deny medical care to soon-to-be Nebraska babies using the justification that some mothers do not deserve taxpayer-funded benefits is contradictory to the goal of prenatal care – to ensure babies are born healthy. Voices for Children in Nebraska challenges us to ask ourselves, who are we hurting when prenatal care is denied?
For more information on the loss of prenatal care for over 1,500 little lives and what you can do, see Voices for Children in Nebraska’s website:
http://www.voicesforchildren.com/babiesbornhealthy.htm
Tiffany Seibert
Policy Coordinator
Voices for Children in Nebraska
tseibert@voicesforchildren.com
(402) 597-3100 Ext. 109
March 3rd, 2010 at 2:32 pm
i work with lots of low income parents and children. a lot of times i see arguments between grown adults that turn into one of the adults turning the other one into child protective services just to hurt the other parent. they do this becuase the only way to hurt people who do not have much is to mess with the one thing that they cherish most and that is their children. and that is exactly what is going on here. there isnt very much you can do to hurt someone that has risked everything to come to a country where a lot of that country hates them, to hurt someone that has come from a place so bad that they choose to live around hate isnt a very easy thing to do, so the next step is for our government to act like these uneducated low income “friends” and mess with their children. isnt it kind of silly and a lot more exspensive to not provide prenatal care to these babies instead of waiting until these nebraskan children are born whom will then qualify for help and will be a greater exspense to this country when they are gong to need a lot more exspensive care as sick babies
March 4th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
This entire issue has me asking a question: Is the Governor of Nebraska really Pro-Life?
It would seem impossible to me that a champion of the unborn could actually take the position the Governor has. Strike that–it IS impossible to be Pro-Life and then deny women access to prenatal care for their babies.
Am I wrong on this?
March 9th, 2010 at 2:58 pm
The thing that becomes difficult for me to swallow is that as a family we have been busting our butts to try and survive after the recession went and took my husbands job. We were given 3 options since I was a working adult 1. I could quit my job and we could qualify for assistance which would inevitably lead to option 2 which was declare bankruptcy and the third option was we could try to work 2 or 3 jobs not see each other and try to struggle through the situation. The verdict is still out there whether we will loose everything and for the record we went with option 3.
Enter the situation that our daughter almost 18 made some poor decisions and now p/g. She can’t even qualify for WIC because we have worked too hard to try and avoid bankruptcy and therefore also doesn’t qualify for assistance for care for her unborn child. She can’t get housing because 18 year olds can’t get housing or sign leases on their own and we aren’t credit worthy due to the situation. My daughter isn’t going to have an abortion that question never was asked it was just a known fact but will this complicate things to the point that we may not be able to provide for our other 2 children? That situation isn’t fair either and I don’t hear anyone squaking about that.
I am a nurse and I do understand the importance of prenatal care. The point is where there is a will there is a way to get through things legally. We are talking about people who are trying to get assistance illegally. If they were discussing cutting off people who had defrauded the system there wouldn’t be a question asked. We have had to figure that out and I don’t feel bad that others will too. Harsh- probably but that is the medicine that was handed to me when our situation started. We have survived for a year and face cold hard facts every day. I think a grandfather clause would be appropriate for those who were already enrolled in the system but as for new cases until we are able to help take care of our own natural born citizens and our own then what makes us think we can care for the world?
March 13th, 2010 at 11:51 am
Lori,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and your story. I can assure you that Voices for Children and other organizations work hard to make our systems work better for all families in their time of need. We believe that all families who work hard to provide for their family should receive the kind of proactive support that helps everyone weather the more difficult times.
What is at stake here is an investment in the health of soon-to-be Nebraska babies. Of the 1500+ women who lost coverage, it is important to note that 709 of them were American citizens. Ultimately, no one is better off when babies are born with serious health complications, some that may persist throughout the child’s life. This outcome is costly to the state, but the human costs to these children is truly what is unacceptable.
Related to your comment but not necessarily this blog (because it might be helpful) – LB 226 just passed the Legislature which would allow 18-year-olds to enter into leases. As of March 3rd, your daughter should be able to get housing on her own. Please feel free to contact Voices for Children with any additional questions or concerns. Thank you.
March 24th, 2010 at 2:24 am
This unique write-up has made me recognize that we all have to take additional treatment of ourselves and every other.
April 16th, 2010 at 12:15 am
Aw, this was a really good post. In theory I’d like to write like this also – taking time and real effort to make a good article… but what can I say… I procrastinate alot and never seem to get anything done.
May 15th, 2010 at 11:30 pm
Wonderful philosophy. I love it. Thanks for posting
June 25th, 2010 at 3:53 pm
Just finished this article and had to say thank you personally. Precise and to the point!