“Family planning in the U.S. should also support egg freezing,” written by Leonard Lopoo, professor, chair and associate dean of public administration and international affairs, was published in The Hill. Following is an excerpt:

It should not surprise anyone to learn that low-income women have no support through public insurance either. Medicaid does not typically cover egg freezing, so Medicaid recipients who want to delay parenthood likely do not have that option...

This demonstrates the asymmetry in family planning in the U.S. If a woman wants to avoid having children, contraceptive supplies and services are covered extensively in private health insurance policies. One can gain access to IUDs, oral contraceptives or any one of a number of birth control options at no or little cost. Low-income women also have complete coverage for contraceptive supplies and services through many publicly funded family planning programs, including Title X, which funds health care clinics for low-income women, or the Medicaid family planning program.

However, if a woman wants assistance in planning the timing of her childbearing, it is not available. This is but one-example of the lopsidedness of family planning in the U.S. Our programs are designed to assist when women want to restrict their childbearing but offer no support when women want to have children.