<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[The Dish]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[http://dish.andrewsullivan.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[Andrew Sullivan]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://dish.andrewsullivan.com/author/sullydish/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Free Birth Control For&nbsp;All?]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p><em><span style="font-size: 12px;">by Chris Bodenner</span></em></p> <p>Dana Goldstein <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-07-12/the-coming-battle-over-the-cost-of-birth-control">looks</a> at the possibility:</p> <blockquote><p>Experts expect the Department of Health and Human Services, led by pro-choice Obama appointee Kathleen Sebelius, to spend the next six to 18 months researching women&#39;s health before releasing new guidelines for women&#39;s &quot;<a href="http://prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/senate-passes-womens-health-amendment/">preventive health care</a>.&quot; Under the new law, services and medications defined as &quot;preventive&quot; must be offered to customers of new insurance plans free of co-pays—whether that insurance is employer-provided or purchased on the individual marketplace, whether inside or outside of the new, subsidized health insurance exchanges.</p> </blockquote> <p><a href="http://www.salon.com/life/broadsheet/2010/07/06/birth_control_coverage">So does</a> Tracy Clark-Flory:</p> <blockquote><p>It&#39;s yet to be decided whether birth control will be one of those services -- even though the so-called Mikulski amendment was intended for that very purpose -- and experts say it&#39;s unlikely a decision will be reached by late September when the rule goes into effect. (No rush -- I mean, the outcome only potentially impacts the estimated <em>3 million</em> unplanned pregnancies each year.) ... Not only do planned pregnancies tend to result in healthier children, but fewer unplanned pregnancies mean fewer abortions. That&#39;s something everyone can get behind, right?</p><p>Of course not. </p></blockquote>    ]]></html></oembed>