The Role of the Executive Branch in Women's Health Care
The executive branch, which is both accountable and objective, makes a considerable contribution to the development of health-care policies in the United States. The branch has several entities that provide a wealth of expertise and understanding of both social and health policies, resulting in a strong capability for complete, accountable, and impartial evaluations of health care programs. Women’s health is one area in the United States that has benefited from the executive branch’s extensive expertise and knowledge. The executive branch has played various roles over the years, influencing and even changing the state of women’s health in the United States. The executive accesses all data, reasoning, and evidence that are required for the formulation of effective health policies. Such an opportunity grants the executive the capacity to obtain substantial information regarding policy and clinical research, public health and prevention strategies, and the financial impacts. Through executive orders, women in the US have been fighting for a new approach and vision concerning women's wellness and health, and even identity. Such campaigns or events have been made possible through equal access to health education and medical information. A good example of such executive orders is Executive Order 13506, signed by the former President Obama in 2009. According to Treuthart (2016), the order mentioned above was purposed to ensure proper coordination in responding to issues that affect the lives of girls and women.
Improvements in Women's Health Care
Today, the status of women’s health across the nation has shown some remarkable improvements as women receive the adequate support of the executive branch in implementing a better or more holistic approach to health care compared to the previous times. For example, through the approval of emergency contraception (commonly known as 'the morning after pill') and female condom, among others, reproductive issues are now considered necessary while women continue to demand services that cater for their needs both in adolescence and old age. Also, the executive branch now explores closely and keenly the role of culture, socio-economic status, and race on the women’s access to quality care and accurate information. Moreover, through the executive branch, women continue to advocate for critical changes in the way healthcare is delivered in the US including the promotion of midwifery and out-of-hospital-birth centers (Obama, 2016).
The Legislative Role in Women's Health Care
While all the branches of government contribute to the formation of health care policies, the legislative should have the largest role in women’s health care, and such role should be given to the federal government. Just like the executive branch, the legislature is publicly accountable and impartial – the legislative can gather adequate information from various objective sources. National Institutes of Health (U.S.), (1999) postulates that the legislature has a mandate in promoting and protecting the health of the members of public and has the power to participate in the enactment of legislation through thoughtful and lengthy processes. Also, the legislative can establish bodies that are meant to collect and analyze the data for the development of sound policies regarding women’s health if provided with resources. On the level of government, the federal government should have the largest role in women’s health care to ensure that women across the US receive essentially the same health care. Also, the enforcement of the policies regarding women’s health care is a serious concern that requires adequate resources, which can only be provided by the federal government (Palley & Palley, 2014).
Conclusion
In brief, through impartiality and accountability, the executive branch continues to play key roles in improving women’s health care in the US – the branch promotes access to full data and more holistic models or approaches to women’s health care. Today, executive orders allow women to access health education, and information hence can fight for better health policies and changes that improve women’s health in the society. However, the largest role should be given to the legislative, which publicly participates in the formation of policies and legislation in matters of healthcare among other issues. The enforcement of the health care policies requires resources and uniformity, which can only be achieved by the federal government.
References
National Institutes of Health (U.S.). (1999). Agenda for research on women’s health for the 21st century: A report of the Task Force on the NIH Women’s Health Research Agenda for the 21st Century. Bethesda, Md.: National Institutes of Health, Office of the Director, Office of Research on Women’s Health.
Obama, B. (2016). United States health care reform: progress to date and next steps. Jama, 316(5), 525-532.
Palley, M. L., & Palley, H. A. (2014). The politics of women’s health care in the United States.
Treuthart, M. P. (2016). Feminist-in-Chief-Examining President Obama’s Executive Orders on Women’s Rights Issues. Chi.-Kent L. Rev., 91, 171.
