Is contraception healthcare?

Given the continuing kerfuffle over mandated insurace coverage for contraception, I thought I would step back and consider a few basic questions.

1. Is (hormonal) contraception healthcare?
   • clearly, yes; the pill is used to treat medical conditions, such as polycystic ovary syndrome.
2. Are other forms of contraception (e.g., IUDs, condoms, surgical interventions), or the use of the pill for contraceptive purposes, healthcare?
   • Note: I assume, as an axiom, that pregnancy is not, in itself, an illness which requires prevention or treatment.
   • The answer to this question is more complex than #1, but only slightly more so: 
     1. Even if pregnancy is not an illness, it is nonetheless a healthcare issue, carrying with it health risks that must be managed; it is therefore worthwhile to enable humans* to avoid assuming these risks if they would rather not.
     2. There are health benefits for mother and child (and familes) of controlling the spacing of pregnancies; contraception aids in accomplishing this.
3. Are other methods of controlling pregnancy (i.e., celibacy or fertility awareness methods) acceptable alternatives?
   • In regard to the "rhythm method": no; fertility awareness has a lower 'actual use' effective rate than most other methods.
   • In regard to celibacy, there are actually health benefits to non-procreative intercourse.
   • (Yes, I've conveniently ignored the ethical issues of healthcare decision-making, and the many gendered sociological considerations surrounding sex - those are topics for another blog)
4. Are there public health or economic benefits of increased access to contraception?
   • Yes; for some contraceptive methods, decreased risk of sexually transmitted infections (on a related note, there is an argument to be made for the public health benefits of greater promiscuity).
   • For hormonal methods, there are both risks and beneficial side-effects. This is true of most drugs, of course, and as with most drugs, the cost-benefit analysis is usually left to the patient and doctor (and, unfortunately, the insurer).
   • As the article above notes, having more women on birth control provides more opportunities for reproductive and non-reproductive preventive care.
   • As noted above, mothers and children are healthier when women have more control over their fertility. This is likely to lead to better health outcomes and cost savings system-wide.

In sumary, this seems like a pretty strong case that contraception is a form of healthcare, and deserves consideration in the healthcare policy debate. Whether the current insurance  infrastructure provides the means to effectively deliver this remains a separate question.

* I say 'humans' because I (as a male) assume men have an interest in whether their partners become pregnant.