Utah state Rep. Ray Ward, R-Bountiful, has spent this summer discussing legislation that would offer low-income Utah women access to long-term contraception under Medicaid. The results? Preventing thousands of unintended pregnancies in Utah each year. What’s more, 90 percent of the costs would be picked up by the Federal government. Utah would pay the remaining 10 percent.
The long-term consequences of this bill are huge. In exchange for covering its tiny share of the costs, Utah’s rate of unintended pregnancies and abortions would drop among low-income women and families, and Utah taxpayers would save money on a host of social service programs like Medicaid and school lunch.