Proposal funds prenatal care for all

Friday, January 22, 1999

Proposal funds prenatal care for all

UPDATE: $60 million slated for low-income, undocumented
women

By Caridad Lezcano

Daily Bruin Contributor

Gov. Gray Davis broke away from one of his Republican
predecessor’s policies, by choosing to include prenatal care for
undocumented women in his preliminary version of the state
budget.

Gov. Davis proposed spending $60 million on prenatal care for
low-income illegal immigrants, reversing former governor Pete
Wilson’s plan to cut the money from California’s budget.

Administrators and students have a variety of views on the new
governor’s policy.

"This policy is long overdue on the part of the state," said E.
Richard Brown, a UCLA professor in the School of Public Health.

"(Former) governor Wilson’s policy was not a smart policy,
because it was not only denying prenatal care to undocumented
women, but it was denying health care to their citizen-born
children," he said.

But some critics are wary of Davis’ motives.

"Could Davis just be saying this just for votes?" said Steve
Ginsberg, a third-year political science student.

Ginsberg said that perhaps Davis’s proposed budget could end up
alienating his more conservative constituency.

And some students simply don’t agree that the state should
provide prenatal care to undocumented women.

"California taxpayers are burdened enough without having this
added on to them" said Jacob Lu, an undeclared second-year
student.

"Why do we have to pay for people that break the law?" he
said.

Davis is acting in accordance with previous court decisions by
providing these funds in his budget.

In August 1998, a state appeals court blocked the Wilson
administration from cutting off subsidized emergency care and
prenatal services to thousands of both legal and illegal
immigrants. Consequently, women have continued to receive such
care.

For example, the Emergency Department at the UCLA Medical Center
has specifically outlined instructions for handling uninsured
patients – which include undocumented people, since most illegal
residents cannot afford medical insurance.

"It is the policy of the UCLA Emergency Medicine Center to
provide triage and medical screening to all patients who (are)
present for treatment," according to a Medical Center document that
outlines procedures.

Anyone who checks into the Emergency Department receives care by
both nurses and doctors.

Because the issue of health care for illegal immigrants is so
controversial, the Davis proposal has been played down compared to
other issues, according to the Los Angeles Times. Out of the
190-page budget, only three paragraphs address prenatal care.

Democrats and Republicans in Sacramento have continuously
battled over questions of illegal immigration and welfare.

By setting aside money in his first budget for health care,
Davis clearly breaks away from his Republican predecessor who
refused to provide any provisions or funds for illegal
immigrants.

"Gray Davis’ proposed plan is right from a health care
perspective, a fiscal perspective and a humanitarian perspective"
said Brown.

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