Santorum Fails Prenatal Testing

Rick Santorum is at it again. The presidential candidate, who already thinks that birth control is “harmful to women” and has pledged to defund contraception, now has his sights set on … prenatal testing.

During an interview on Face the Nation, Santorum criticized President Obama’s healthcare law for requiring insurance companies to cover specific prenatal tests. According to Santorum, since some tests are used to detect genetic abnormalities, they can “encourage” abortions. Therefore, his logic follows, having insurance companies cover the costs of these tests “is a bit loaded.” While Santorum singled out amniocenteses as a test that insurance shouldn’t cover, he said he had no problem with sonograms – even though it is possible for those images to show birth defects or other abnormalities. But I’m guessing in Santorum-land, sonograms are only important when forced on women that want abortions – or trying to make his stance on women’s health issues seem less batshit crazy than it actually is.

Implying that prenatal testing is some sort of gateway drug to abortion procedures is, frankly, ludicrous. According a survey conducted of over 1,200 women that chose abortion, the top reasons for the decision were: concern for/responsibility to others; inability to afford a child; concern that having a child would interfere with school, work, or their ability to take care of dependents; or having problems with their partner or spouse, or not wanting to be a single parent. “Possible problems affecting the health of the fetus” fell far down the list of reasons that these women gave for having an abortion.

Much like his opposition to birth control, this latest stance seems to be much more about Rick Santorum than about what’s best for women and families. Prenatal testing provides information, plain and simple – information that women, and their partners and doctors and whoever else the woman may choose to involve – can then use to make the best decision for themselves, their fetus, and their families. For some women, the choice will be to terminate – but not for every woman. And for parents that choose to continue a pregnancy where there are specific problems, prenatal testing gives those parents the time to prepare themselves for the unique challenges they and their child will face.

But Santorum doesn’t appear to be interested in research, or giving women information, or even what’s best for families that aren’t his. This is just Santorum’s latest attempt to demonize abortion and anything that can be tied to pregnancy termination, no matter how tenuous the threads. If insurance companies no longer covered testing, expectant mothers that can afford it will still have access. But those that don’t have the means may end up with otherwise avoidable complications that put them or their newborn in serious harm. To even suggest that women and their families should be put in that position is infuriating, and illustrates just how little Rick Santorum trusts women to make their own choices.

Why the Lowered Expectations for Fathers?

Both a recent U.S. Census Bureau report and an ongoing media campaign around fatherhood have raised some interesting questions about the way that society views a father's responsibilities. In its “Who's Minding the Kids?” report, the bureau assumes that when both parents are present at home, the mother is the "designated parent." If the mother is away from the home, say at work or school, and the father is watching his offspring, the bureau classifies that as "care" – but the reverse is not considered true when the father's the one who's away. In other words, if the mother is home watching her children, she's just considered a parent. When the father does it, that's looked at as something more akin to child care, not parenting.

In explaining its rationale behind collecting and presenting data this way, a bureau employee explained that despite the changes in family structure and dynamics over the past half-century, "women are still primarily responsible for work in the home," and a mother is "not only caring for the child only while Dad works. She’s probably caring for the child 24 hours and so Dad is able to go to work regardless.”

This is likely the case for many families, regardless if the mother is employed outside the home as well. So why does it bug me so much that the Census Bureau classifies a mother's role differently from a father's? Because there shouldn't be any difference. The fact that women have traditionally shouldered a larger share of child-rearing responsibilities isn't enough reason for women to continue doing so, especially given the more-relevant fact that two working parents is the norm for most households. Using different terms to describe the exact same work just serves to reinforce the outdated idea that fathers aren't expected to be their children's primary caregiver.

The various fatherhood campaigns put forth by the Ad Council and Fatherhood.gov are equally problematic. While I like the idea of promoting healthy families and involved parents, regardless of if both parents are living with their children, the very fact that a campaign even has to be launched around the idea of responsible fatherhood is really galling. Look, it's hardly news that a lot of parents, both mothers and fathers, are unprepared for the challenges of parenthood and would benefit from some outside guidance, and I support government programs that help parents ensure that they have all the available resources and assistance to provide a stable and healthy environment for their children. So again, what galls me here is the gender focus. If the Department of Health and Humans Services was promoting a website called Parenthood.gov, full of information about programs and ways to connect with and learn from other parents, that would be great. But singling out fathers for this kind of assistance and attention smacks of starting from a place of reduced expectations. Fathers' shouldn't have to be reminded to "take time to be a dad today," as the copy of one PSA plastered on Washington, D.C. bus stations reads. They should just be fathers every day, because when you have a child, you are, by definition, a parent every day. Mothers aren't given the same options, so why the implicit condoning of fatherhood as a choice once the kids are born?

Even though they're both run through government agencies, I kind of doubt that the powers that be at either the Census Bureau or HHS coordinated their language or efforts around studying fatherhood and parenthood. But the very fact that they're using the same gendered language just perpetuates the idea that fathers are starting from a place of less responsibility and accountability than mothers, and that's not fair – to their children, their partners, or the fathers themselves. I admire the spirit behind Fatherhood.gov and the PSA campaigns, but I wish that instead of trying to bring men up to speed after their children are already here, the focus was on ensuring that men – and women – are better-prepared for parenthood before the child is even born.