New bill will let doctors refuse to save the lives of pregnant women
Sometimes there really aren’t words for what passes as “pro-life” in the United States. The “Protect Life Act” overrides the requirement that ER doctors treat every patient and do what’s necessary to save the patient’s life, regardless of the patient’s identity or ability to pay — the Act allows doctors to refuse necessary care to [...]
...read more#DearJohn: The GOP Seeks to Re-Define Rape and Restrict Reproductive Health Care
It’s not surprising that with large numbers of Republicans elected to Congress, we’re seeing major assaults on reproductive rights. What is shocking is how aggressive and heartless they are. A new bill, which has a good chance of passing, will deny abortion services to rape survivors; cut abortion care from private insurance policies; and remove [...]
...read moreOn second thought about Kermit Gosnell
He does tell us a few things about abortion. They just aren’t what William Saletan thinks. The Gosnell case shows us the worst of what happens when abortion isn’t accessible. Gosnell’s “clinic” was nothing short of a house of horrors, and he preyed upon women who couldn’t get abortions anywhere else or who were unfamiliar [...]
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That’s some morality you’ve got there.
On the heels of the nun who was excommunicated from the Catholic Church for saving a woman’s life comes this post about how good Catholic medical care basically involves crossing your fingers and hoping for the best. At least when it comes to women. But the position of the church is actually born from humility, [...]
...read moreShame on you.
Gabe says so perfectly what I also think about tea partiers, after one of them — Caleb Howe, a right-wing writer regularly featured on sites like RedState.org — taunted Roger Ebert for having cancer: But I will also say this: come on, tea party movement. I have worked really hard to remain open to the [...]
...read moreCutting the Cost of Being a Woman
At least health care reform does that. Until now, it has been perfectly legal in most states for companies selling individual health policies — for people who do not have group coverage through employers — to engage in “gender rating,” that is, charging women more than men for the same coverage, even for policies that [...]
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“None of this is about healthcare at all. It’s about extending a basic fundamental right to people who are less powerful.”
So says House Majority Whip James Clyburn about the rancor, anger and general unhinged-ness coming from the GOP and Tea Party protestors. And he’s right. So is Bob Herbert, in this must-read column.* Herbert details the Tea Partiers taunting a man with Parkinson’s, spitting on black congressmen, and shouting racial and homophobic epithets. Despite Republicans’ [...]
...read moreAmericans stunningly ignorant about birth control
Apparently your boyfriend is freaked out by your NuvaRing and doesn’t understand how the Pill works. And apparently unmarried ladies and gents across America are similarly confused! (PDF) Here are some very frightening statistics: -Among people who are in sexually active relationships and want to prevent pregnancy, 19% use no contraception at all. 24% use [...]
...read moreSo, health care reform.
This weekend, as we know, was a mess for health care reform. The reproductive rights restrictions are pretty terrible (not as bad as the restrictions passed in the House, but still not good). The fact that the public option was scrapped is incredibly disappointing. I can understand why liberals are upset (I’m upset!). But I [...]
...read moreRead, think, then talk.
Can someone please send Saxby Chambliss a copy of Roe v. Wade? Because it does not say what he thinks it says. The Senate healthcare bill’s language on abortion “sets up a Supreme Court challenge,” one senator warned Saturday. Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) asserted that the compromise on abortion contained within the bill, which would [...]
...read moreThat’s some “conscience”
A nurse at Mt. Sinai hospital in New York was reportedly forced to assist in an emergency second-trimester abortion, and is now suing. Predictably, the right is flipping out, and even blaming Obama. According to the story, which I can only find one version of (and that’s through an anti-choice Catholic news agency which bases [...]
...read moreToday, I just can’t.
Dear readers, it has been one of those weeks. And so today I just cannot muster a response to this op/ed by Bart Stupak, defending his amendment to the health care bill — an amendment that limits reproductive choice and goes far beyond the already egregious Hyde Amendment. However, nothing would make me happier than [...]
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