Different Takes: What’s Causing Declining Fertility Rates?; Medicaid Is Failing New Mothers In Texas

Scientific American: Reproductive Problems In Both Men And Women Are Rising At An Alarming Rate
When you see or hear a reference to “the 1 percent,” most people think of socioeconomic status—the people with the top 1 percent of wealth or income in the United States, which is how the term is commonly used in our culture. Not us, though. What we think of is the fact that the whole spectrum of reproductive problems in males are increasing by about 1 percent per year in Western countries. This “1 percent effect” includes the rates of declining sperm counts, decreasing testosterone levels and increasing rates of testicular cancer, as well as a rise in the prevalence of erectile dysfunction. On the female side of the equation, miscarriage rates are also increasing by about 1 percent per year in the U.S., and so is the rate of gestational surrogacy. Meanwhile, the total fertility rate worldwide has dropped by nearly 1 percent per year from 1960 to 2018. (Shanna H. Swan and Stacey Colino, 3/16)

Dallas Morning News: With This Change, Texas Can Save The Lives Of New Moms
Childbirth is a joyous time for a mother, but also can lead to medical crises, postpartum depression, and premature death, including suicide. At a time when new mothers are so vulnerable, access to medical resources and counseling that could save lives should be available. However, if a new mother is poor, several post-childbirth risk factors sharply increase, and a key safety net is available for only the first two months after delivery. Medicaid health insurance currently provides coverage for new mothers for just 60 days despite the fact that medical experts say new mothers are at risk of suffering psychological and medical setbacks related to childbirth for at least a year. (3/17)

The Washington Post: The Anti-‘Roe V. Wade’ Movement Is Increasingly Disconnected From Facts
Earlier this month, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) delivered a burst of candor while signing a bill into law. The new law imposes a near-total ban on abortion, no exceptions for rape or incest — only to save the life of the mother. It obviously violates nearly half a century of Supreme Court precedent, Hutchinson acknowledged. But challenging the precedents is exactly the point. Arkansas joins a growing list of states flouting the court over abortion in hopes of getting its rulings overturned. They have a theory that three conservative justices appointed in recent years are secretly ready to overturn not just Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that established a limited right to abortion, but also the stronger 1992 holding in Planned Parenthood v. Casey. (David Von Drehle, 3/16)

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Houston Chronicle: Address The Link Between Substance Use Disorder And Mental Illness
Substance use is a primary driver of readmission to the hospital and criminal justice systems. If we addressed substance use disorders in conjunction with mental health disorders, the number of people in need of care would significantly decrease. Yet time and again, substance use is viewed as a secondary concern and not as a confounding disease affecting the majority of people with a mental health disorder. As we read Alex Stuckey’s three-part series “How Texas fails the mentally ill,” we were met with a mix of emotions. On the one hand, it is heartening to see a light being shined on this decades long travesty — a crisis that strips people of their dignity and basic human rights; that tells people they have to wait, homeless on the streets or in jail to get the care they desperately need. On the other hand, it is concerning to see the pronounced blind spot regarding co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders that exists among health care providers, behavioral health providers, policy makers and the community at large. (Mel Taylor and Mary Beck, 3/17)