While we’re all distracted, retching at the official White House Christmas Video, this is what the Bush administration is up to.
Cecile Richards writes in HuffPo:
… despite the written opposition from more than 200,000 Americans, 150 members of Congress, a bipartisan coalition of governors and attorneys general, the American Medical Association, and women’s health organizations like Planned Parenthood — the Department of Health and Human Services issued a last minute regulation that will undermine health care access at nearly 600,000 pharmacies, clinics, and hospitals across the country.
This sort of “take the drapes on your way out” approach is the final chapter of an administration that has prized political ideology over health care for their entire eight years — and the rule issued yesterday, with little more than 30 days left in office, is the ultimate holiday gift to the extreme right.
Under this new rule, doctors and health care workers of all kinds can deny patients vital health care information and services, without the patient even knowing. No patient is exempt from the reach of this rule: sexual assault victims could be denied information about emergency contraception that could prevent unintended pregnancy, moms hoping to time their pregnancies can be denied contraception at their local pharmacy, young adults hoping to be tested for sexually transmitted infections could be denied treatment by health care employees who oppose premarital sex.
In short, this rule is likely to create total chaos in an already stressed health care system, and for low-income women and families, this rule may spell the end of the few available health care options. Essentially, any patient that utilizes health care at a provider that receives any federal funds will be subject to the luck of the draw in terms of what kinds of reproductive health care they are offered. This might seem far-fetched, until you realize that groups like Pharmacists for Life have campaigned nationally to have pharmacies refuse to provide women birth control prescribed by their physician.
If you had any doubt that this rule is about politics, not health care, just watch the high-fives among the far right. “This is a huge victory for religious freedom and the First Amendment,” said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council.
And keeping us pesky women in our place, the old barefoot preggers thing.
Patriarchy rules once again.
I could spit.
XO
WWW
Me too. Do you think Shrub is punishing all women for his emasculating mother? You’d expect the father of daughters to be somewhat sensitive to the health needs of women, but somehow it escapes him – and presumably them, or they’d kick his ass.
What is there left to say about a group of men who have started unwarranted wars, killed thousands upon thousands of people, tortured countless others, permitted the decapitation of mountains, enabled the death of streams and rivers, ignored the health of the earth that is supposed to sustain us? There is nothing that those men have not done to ruin life as we would like to have it. Is it any wonder that they have no respect for a woman’s body?
May they pay for their sins.
It would be nice, Laura, to believe that what comes round, goes round. But I suspect this shower of miscreants will die comfortably in their beds, unlike the millions of people they have condemned to unspeakable horrors.
I think access to primary healthcare for all is important and certainly free contraception should be available at least if abortion isn’t as no state can have it both ways in the naive belief that being denied these services will modify people’s sexual behaviour.
Unfortunately, Laura, in the US access to primary healthcare for all is a pipe dream at this point. Only those who can afford insurance have any kind of reasonable access to healthcare, and even then it can be blocked by HMOs. So you could have a situation where a woman goes to her doctor, is given a prescription for contraceptives, for which she will pay, and yet a druggist whose religious beliefs equate contraception with abortion can refuse to fill it. She can always tell him/her to get stuffed and take her business elsewhere. The people most affected by this legislation will be the low-income and uninsured, who have no such freedom of choice and can be denied basic information that will affect their health.
Fuck me. January 20th seems a long way off.
Has there ever been such a long time between presidents? I don’t see why they can’t chuck them out the day after the election. What’s the point of being ruled by a duck, and the lamest of lame ones at that?
Throw your stilettos at the bastard.
Dodge that muthafuckaaaaaa !
Listen up, Craic, and stop trying to teach your granny how to suck eggs. You’ve obviously never thrown a stiletto at anyone’s head, or you’d know they’re very erratic missiles. Take it from one who knows from experience (((nudge) (wink))). I’m sticking with the Doc Marten stuffed with rocks. Swing it by its laces, and you’re guaranteed a bull’s eye every time. Not that I have any experience of that, mind …
Well there was that once but my girlfriend wasn’t happy that I’d lost her shoe. Mind you she wasn’t happy I’d borrowed her clothes in the first place !
Seriously though (hrrmm), those types of situations are where it come in handy to know a hardcore Morbid Angel fan. New Rock boots my dear. Failing that you could mosh Washington DC, the Vatican and the City of London off the map, given the right soundtrack of course…
Left your gift on my site. I hope you can stop by and see it.
Happy Holidays!
Happy holidays Tessa, may your aim be true in 2009!
Ugh! I can’t wait to get that idiot out of the White House! Can it happen ANY faster? Before the whole world caves in???