Dana Beyer, MD, for Maryland State Delegate 2010

Women's Health 2010

What are the critical health issues facing women in Maryland these days? Most derive from the attempt of a small group of religious extremists to stigmatize women, to hoist their retrosexual agenda on the state and country. All involve turning the clock back to a time when women were the property of their fathers and husbands, when single women were scorned and economic opportunities for all women were severely restricted. To a time before women were finally able to exert control over their bodies and reproductive lives.

We need strong leadership in Annapolis to secure the full range of women’s rights.  Senator Sharon Grosfeld was a reliable, strong and passionate voice for women’s rights and women’s health during her twelve years in the General Assembly. With her retirement we lost that voice in the trenches in Annapolis, and have yet to replace it.

Sharon has been my primary role model since I began considering a political career. I want to continue her work, even if I cannot replace her voice, with my own passion and special skills as both a woman and a physician.

Women benefit greatly from the recently passed health insurance reform. Beyond those changes which impact everyone, the provision of comprehensive benefits includes maternity care. States are encouraged to provide significantly greater family planning under Medicaid. Beginning this September all women are allowed an OB-GYN physician for primary care without a gatekeeper. Discrimination based on sex will be illegal, and being a victim of domestic violence will no longer be grounds for recession or denial as a pre-existing condition. Free-standing birthing centers and smoking cessation for pregnant women is being added to Medicaid coverage.

A “clean bill of health” for Maryland’s women includes the following:

• Legal obligation of physicians and other health care workers to treat all patients.
• Safe and affordable access for all women to all forms of contraception.
• Legal obligation to dispense contraception by pharmacists without exception.
• Insurance coverage of all forms of contraception.
• Making abortion safe and accessible to all women without exception.
• Prohibiting religious pregnancy “clinics” from deceiving the public. I’m proud to have managed for Councilmember Trachtenberg the ban on false advertising by such “clinics” in Montgomery County, which passed early in 2010.
• Fully implementing the teaching of comprehensive sex education. We made great strides between 2005-07, but more work needs to be done to bring about full equality and reduce misogyny and bullying. Students are demanding classes in dating etiquette and conflict resolution, and we must continue to push the school board to take the lead.
• Comprehensive HIV prevention and treatment programs.
• Increase funding for the treatment of mental illness and substance abuse, both for adults and in the schools. I’ve worked hard these past four years to increase such funding in the county.
• Increase attention paid to the unique health concerns of minorities, including African-American, Hispanic, Asian, gay and transgender women. I have been honored to have managed the Reproductive Health Education and Advocacy (RHEA) workgroup, led by Professor Susan Wood and Senator Sharon Grosfeld, for Councilmember Trachtenberg since its inception. Early in April, 2010, the workgroup presented the Montgomery County Needs Assessment to the Health and Human Services committee of the County Council.
• Funding studies on the effects of endocrine disrupting compounds, which include DES, phthalates, bisphenol A, atrazine and a host of other pesticides and plastics, on human sexuality and reproductive health. In 2007 Congress recognized the deleterious effects of phthalates in children’s toys and banned their use. This year Maryland banned the sale of baby bottles and children’s cups with BPA. We can no longer afford to assume that these chemicals flooding our environment are safe. We must take adequate precautions.
• Providing adequate treatment, child care and legal/forensic support to victims of rape and domestic violence. The new Family Justice Center in Rockville, which opened in 2009, has taken the lead in providing such a full-service environment. Already over 1500 families, hailing from over 130 countries, have been seen at the Center.

I have lived with many of these issues, and I am fully committed to speaking out on the floor of the House and in the halls of the august buildings of the Capitol.

But I will not simply speak out - I will engage those opposed to this agenda in fair and open dialogue. As a woman steeped in the words of the Bible in their original language, and having been raised in an orthodox Jewish environment, I will use my life’s experiences to continue to meet with members of faith communities to move forward in providing quality medical care to all and science education to our children while respecting everyone’s rights under the First Amendment.