LINCOLN — A Schuyler, Neb., doctor voiced frustration Wednesday as he described the fallout he has already seen from the loss of government-funded prenatal care for some low-income women.
One pregnant woman opted for an abortion three weeks ago because she felt she couldn't afford to pay for prenatal care, said Dr. John Jackson of Memorial Hospital in Schuyler.
A second patient is seriously considering terminating her pregnancy, although he is trying to talk her out of it, Jackson said.
Several pregnant women among his mostly Hispanic patients in the meatpacking town have quit coming for prenatal visits because of the out-of-pocket costs, he said, and one asked if he would come to her house to deliver her baby.
Jackson said the women are doing the math: With incomes of as little as $150 every two weeks, it's hard to pay for $50 diabetes tests or the $750 to $1,000 cost of prenatal care. By comparison, an abortion at a Lincoln clinic costs $500 to $550.
“If you actually want to solve the immigration problem, solve that,” the family physician said.
“Why am I putting a baby's life at risk? That's not right.”
Jackson spoke Wednesday, shortly after a bill was killed in the Nebraska Legislature that would have restored government-funded, prenatal care for low-income pregnant women, including many who are illegal immigrants.
Fremont Sen. Charlie Janssen, who opposed the measure, said that while the abortion was sad, it was most likely unrelated to the end of prenatal care coverage.
“The illegal immigrants we're talking about, I believe, are still going to get their prenatal care from a different source than the Nebraska taxpayers, who are already strapped,” Janssen said.
Gov. Dave Heineman had opposed the bill, saying taxpayer-funded benefits should not be afforded to women who are living in the United States illegally.
Heineman on Tuesday rejected a proposed compromise that would have extended the prenatal aid only to those women who were already pregnant.
His decision led Lincoln Sen. Kathy Campbell, the sponsor of Legislative Bill 1110, to pull the measure from Wednesday's agenda, killing it. Not enough senators supported the bill to overcome an expected veto from the governor, she said.
Heineman declined to comment on the reported abortion.
Advocates for the measure said they expect to hear more stories like the one out of Schuyler. They also expect more reports of premature births, birth defects and stays in neonatal intensive care — which they say will result in taxpayer expenses that could have been headed off by providing less-expensive preventive care.
“I had so hoped that's not what we'd see,” Campbell said of the abortion reported by Jackson. “But, on the other hand, this is an issue of great seriousness.”
Greg Schleppenbach of the Nebraska Catholic Conference said Jackson's report is one of the troubling ramifications that his organization had predicted would occur if the prenatal care program ended.
Schleppenbach and Julie Schmit-Albin of Nebraska Right to Life said they had hoped to hear senators' opinions on the bill during floor debate.
“Pro-life voters have a right to know where senators stood on this bill,” Schmit-Albin said.
Susan Smith of Omaha, founder of Nebraskans Advisory Group, which testified against LB 1110, said lawmakers did not want to cast a vote funding benefits for illegal immigrants during an election year.
“Nebraska citizens were absolutely furious about this,” Smith said.
Campbell said she expected that Nebraskans will now pay a higher bill for childbirth and post-delivery expenses. She said she plans to track those costs.
Advocates for low-income and immigrant populations said they doubted that private charities, hospitals and public health clinics would be able to pick up the cost of providing prenatal care.
But Jackson, the Schuyler doctor, said he is telling his pregnant patients that the hospital won't turn them away because of lack of money.
“I never became a doctor to become rich,” he said. “It's important that we protect people at their most vulnerable.”
Contact the writer:
402-473-9584, paul.hammel@owh.com
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