Contents tagged with women's health
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TAFP statement regarding Roe v. Wade opinion
Statement by Texas Academy of Family Physicians President Mary Nguyen, MD, in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling regarding Roe v. Wade.
Like all health care, abortion is a deeply personal issue. Whether you are pro-life or pro-choice or somewhere in between, today's ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court will undoubtedly cause a great deal of confusion for many Texans and family physicians. While it will take time to fully understand how this ruling and existing Texas laws will affect patient care, I know family physicians will continue counseling their patients to make medical decisions together about what care is best for them.
The Supreme Court's decision to strike down Roe v. Wade ends a half-century of federal constitutional protection of abortion rights and allows each state to decide whether to restrict or ban abortion. In Texas, which already has a “trigger law” in place, that would mean a near total ban on abortion.
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Family physicians can improve access to women’s health services by providing LARCs
By Melissa Benavides, MD
There is tremendous need across the state of Texas for increased access to women’s health services. As a physician representing the TAFP on the Texas Women’s Healthcare Coalition, I would like to remind my colleagues that family physicians are well positioned to fill this void. Even some of the smaller, more remote towns throughout our state are served by dedicated family physicians who have equipped themselves to provide convenient, wide-ranging women’s health services. As many patients prefer and trust their family physician, we are well-positioned to make positive impacts on the health status of women and children throughout Texas.
I would like to address two major steps we can take as family physicians to improve the availability and convenience of women’s health services in our state.
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Family medicine in the 85th Texas Legislature
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Family medicine in the 85th Texas Legislature
By Jonathan Nelson and Perdita Henry
Coming in to the 85th Texas Legislature, Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and Speaker Joe … more
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TWHC wins funding for preventive health care in the 84th Texas Legislature
By Anna Chatillon
Director of Policy and Advocacy for the Texas Women’s Healthcare CoalitionIn the midst of the chaos and inevitable drama of the 84th Texas Legislature, we risk overlooking one piece of news with the potential to change thousands of lives for the better. Funding for women’s preventive health care services, such as annual check-ups and contraceptive care, was increased by nearly $50 million in the state budget for the coming biennium.
In 2011, draconian budget cuts to Texas’ Family Planning program devastated the women’s health care safety net. When the Texas Women’s Healthcare Coalition, a collaboration of 60 member organizations led by TAFP and others, was formed in 2012, its aim was to restore that funding. The Coalition’s successful advocacy restored the funding in 2013 through the Texas Women’s Health Program and the Expanded Primary Health Care program, in addition to the Family Planning program.
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Texas Family Physician - Vol. 65 No. 4, Fall 2014
Go to the TFP archive
View the virtual issue
President’s letter
Perspective
CONTENTS
Embracing change in the ValleyA small group of independent primary care docs in and around … more
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Texas Women’s Healthcare Coalition
Working to improve Texans’ access to health care in the 84th Texas Legislature
By Anna Chatillon
Policy coordinator for the Texas Women’s Healthcare CoalitionThe Texas women’s Healthcare Coalition, of which TAFP is an active steering committee member, is a coalition of 47 health care, faith, and community-based member organizations. We are dedicated to improving the health and well-being of Texas women, babies, and families by assuring access to preventive health care for all Texas women. Access to preventive and preconception care—including health screenings and contraception—means healthy, planned pregnancies, and early detection of cancers and other treatable conditions. The TWHC was formed in response to the devastating legislative budget cuts to women’s health care in 2011.
Now that the prior level of funding has been restored, it is clear the restoration was only the first step toward ensuring that all women in Texas have access to the preventive care they need. Even now, only three in 10 women who need publicly funded health care have access to it. Texas desperately needs to appropriate more funding for women’s health care in the next legislative session. The consequences of failing to provide women access are too high, both in human costs and in financial implications, for Texans to accept.
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New contraceptive options available for Medicaid and TWHP patients
New contraceptive options available for Medicaid and TWHP patients
posted 8.27.14
Long-acting reversible contraception products became available Aug. 1, 2014 as a pharmacy benefit for female … more
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Legislature restores women’s preventive care funding
By Janet Realini, M.D., M.P.H.
Chair, Texas Women’s Healthcare CoalitionIn a bipartisan effort, the 83rd Texas Legislature increased funding for preventive care for low-income women, making an important first step toward restored access for over 140,000 low-income women. Senate Bill 1, now signed into law by Gov. Rick Perry, invests in family planning in three key funding streams.
- It adds $32.1 million in state funding to the Department of State Health Services Family Planning Program, replacing federal dollars awarded to the private Women’s Health and Family Planning Association of Texas network through Title X;
- It adds $100 million for a DSHS Primary Health Care Expansion for women’s health care, 60 percent of which will provide contraceptive care; and
- It adds $71.3 million in state funding to maintain the Texas Women’s Health Program, which lost its federal funding due to the “Affiliate Ban Rule” that excluded Planned Parenthood from the program.
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Family medicine under the dome in the 83rd Texas Legislature
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By Jonathan Nelson
After all the heated controversy and partisan polemics that characterized this summer’s special sessions of the 83rd Texas Legislature, it’s difficult to … more
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CAPITOL UPDATE: Lege strengthens physician workforce, improves women’s health care, and reduces administrative hassles for physicians
Capitol Update: Lege strengthens physician workforce, improves women’s health care, and reduces administrative hassles for physicians
posted 06.11.13
The 83rd Texas Legislature finished the … more