(This piece was written in Spanish and translated.)

By Vivian Leal

Last month I offered testimony before the Assembly. It was my first time in front of this or any Legislature. I told the story about how my husband and I, married at 21, were fortunate enough to have access to family planning and this was the reason why we were able to move forward with our education as well as our professional careers, and then have children once we felt comfortable with this decision since we knew we could support them and educate them.

I spoke in favor of SB 233, of ensuring basic access to multiple months of contraceptives through public and private medical plans in Nevada as a covered benefit at no additional cost. Many of these protections are included in the ACA law, but given the uncertainty and politicization of the debate regarding health plans in Washington, this law seeks to ensure that this important step for families in Nevada is taken regardless of what happens in the capitol building.

Since then, I have been reflecting on this process, which was new to me, and I find myself wondering why this is necessary, in 2017, when so many women, doctors, and those who support us, still have to come forward to provide a sort of warranty on our integrity and ability to be responsible by facilitating multiple months of contraceptive medication.

Isn't it true that we give birth to all the children in our country? We all know that even in the case of an unplanned pregnancy, while many men leave, women stay. We raise and educate everyone's children! This is among one of the biggest and long-lasting responsibilities one can undertake.

I also wonder why it isn't obvious to all our representatives, of every political party, that covering the use of contraceptives could represent a huge tax advantage by preventing many unplanned pregnancies. On average, each birth covered under Medicaid or any other similar public health program costs $11.647. According to the Kaiser Foundation, in 2016, 64 percent of births in Nevada were covered by Medicaid.

It has also been demonstrated that planned pregnancies produce healthier babies with less costly health complications because they include preventive prenatal care.

You do not need to have an advanced degree in mathematics to understand that by facilitating contraceptives our state could save money.

Finally, I do not understand those who question the moral merit of providing women the tools we need to plan our families, become educated, and achieve our own independent lives.

Having children is one of the most important financial decisions of our lives. What is certain is that on average each woman will spend five years of her life trying to have children, and almost three decades avoiding a pregnancy.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, 52 percent of all pregnancies in Nevada were not planned. 13 percent of the women in Nevada live below the poverty level. A large part of that statistic is a result of taking on responsibilities to care for our families without giving priority to our personal achievements and progress.

Women have been a strong support for our families and communities in every possible way. The time has come to see in Nevada a level of support that must be reciprocal. That is the truly moral and fair decision.

It is time that regardless of what happens at the national level, we can gain control of whether to have children or not, and when.   

SB 233 ensures these protections and it also includes provisions to ensure other services such as maternal health screenings and services to detect breast cancer. This law, which is pro women, was presented to the Senate and approved by the Assembly on May 25.  

The time has come for our community to speak out. To become a law the bill only needs our governor's signature. It is essential to remind him that we look forward to his support for bill SB233 and that we require his signature.

Vivian Leal is a writer, an editor and an activist; she is the daughter of Cuban immigrants who grew up in San Juan, Puerto Rico. After many years in California, where she was the Director of Programming for Kepler's Books, she and her husband decided to move the family to Reno.