NEWS: Or At Least It Ought to Be

CULTURE: Or At Least It Ought to Be

What's the connection between Bush's assholish attempt to deny health insurance to children and reproductive rights?

Glad you asked.

• The Congressional Budget Office found that increasing Medicaid access to contraception would save money--thereby offsetting Bush's oh-so-compassionate concerns about whether the richest nation in the world can afford to pay for sick kids to see the doctor.
• SCHIP (the State Children's Health Insurance Program) covers children up to the age of 18--which is obviously going to include teenage girls.
• Nonetheless, SCHIP only covers Abortion services . . . to save the life of the mother, or to terminate a pregnancy resulting from an act of rape or incest.
• According to the assholes at the Heritage Foundation,

  State officials in Michigan, concerned that the law required SCHIP to fund contraception and sterilization services,amended Michigan's Title XXI State Plan to remove coverage for those services.

And finally, apparently [LIST]Hillary Clinton is not only saying that we need to make sure that reproductive health be part of any planned health care reform, but--for those of you who've forgotten or never realized--the very existence of the SCHIP came out of the work she did after her "failed" attempt at health care reform during her husband's first administration. (And yes, that's her taking credit for it--but don't worry, right wing nutjobs as well as lefties who support other Democratic candidates back this up.)

And now the latest news about poverty rates now includes information that further puts the lie to Bush's bullshit about not wanting to expand SCHIP to cover those above the poverty line.

How is that possible?

So people are working harder, earning less

and fewer jobs are offering health coverage.

HIllarycare--or fuck, any kind of national program, whether a single-payer system or nationalized hospitals--is starting to look pretty goddamn good, don't you think?

Bitch_PhD still isn't sure who she supports in the primary, but is pretty sure that Hillary's the best choice soley from a reproductive rights perspective.

If I choose to smoke, why should you have to pay for my lung transplant?

If I choose to drink heavily, why should you have to pay for my liver transplant?

If you are a teen girl, choose to have sex and get pregnant, why should America be responsible for paying your medical expenses?

So no Bitch_PhD, socialized medicine doesn't "look pretty goddamn good" ...if you're pro-choice and pro-consequence.

Someone pays a much higher cost than tax dollars to give a lung transplant, first of all.

Secondly, if a teen girl gets pregnant, it's very likely that her parents will support her somewhat. If they do not support her and she carries the child to term the cost will likely be heavy anyway because a teen mother who isn't being supported isn't likely to have healthcare, so right there America is footing the bill. If she is given better healthcare from the get go the cost will generally be lower over time because a child that is healthy early on tends to stay healthier in the long run.

Also, it takes one bad choice to become a teen mother, whereas it takes continuous disregard for your own health to require a liver or lung transplant.

xazapdmytinu said:

"Also, it takes one bad choice to become a teen mother, whereas it takes continuous disregard for your own health to require a liver or lung transplant."

...But why am I required to pay for EITHER choice if I didn't make it?

newsflash: women don't choose to get pregnant. it either happens or it doesn't and it's not ultimately within our control.

also, what the fuck does "pro-consequence" even mean? an unwanted child is not a punishment for slutting around, mmkay?

i know, it's like go back under your bridge already!

Smokers don't get lung transplants. Most alcoholics don't get liver transplants. The answer to your question is, however, first that there's such a thing as "public health" and second that while obviously you are healthy right now (or you wouldn't be making such asinine statements), you're using entitlements that other people have paid for. Such as the fucking internet. That and it's actually cheaper to fund public health than it is not to.

I fucking hate libertarian assholes. Apologies to Morgan and RileyStClair for being unable to follow their better examples.

Because it is biologically normal for humans to have sex. We are hard-wired to do it. It is not biologically normal for humans to drink and smoke.

i beg to differ.
some of us got the "lush" gene, ok?

Dipso sapiens of the world, unite!

This argument should be enough to sway even the most libertarian (though it never is.)

That and the fact that preventive care such as what would be covered under SCHIP is far, far cheaper to society as a whole than even HMOs having to later cover subsequent health problems resulting from insufficient care during early childhood.

And because, you know, at some level most of us are still human beings and it's the decent thing to do.

Good luck getting that kind of acknowledgment from people like this though.

Good article.

Right, because the debate about funding a public healthcare system is soley a womens issue. I don't have a better solution, but I'm not interested paying for other people's healthcare, or other people's anything for that matter, unless I choose to. I don't have a problem giving a vagrant my takeout if I see fit, but I have a problem with someone coming up to me and telling me to give that same person my takeout. I plunk into the employee fund at work every week, that way if someone's house burns down or spouse dies, they have a bit of money to cover some costs. But it's my choice to contribute to the fund, I'm sure that my dilhole boss sure as hell doesn't contribute, and that's his choice.
If I were given the choice to pay into a public healthcare system or not to, I probally would contribute a few percent of my check per week. But I'm not happy about someone TELLING me to pay into it.
Time to jump on me and make me look like an asshole.

...when Irish eyes are smiling...

I'm certainly not going to call you an asshole, but think about it this way: Those same people you would be paying to help are also paying to help you if you need it, right?

Y'know, if you were here in the UK then I would be paying for those transplants. That's OK though, because you'd have been paying for it too. And we'd both pay for the pregnant teenage girl. Y'know why?

It's a nice thing to do.

I appreciate that each person's personal politics are different, and that perhaps you were just trying to play devil's advocate, but is it really worth digging your heels in and forcing some poor kid to birth a baby she's ill-prepared to care for just because it's gonna cost you a few extra dollars each year?

And then of course there's the theory (see: Freakonomics for an intro) that readily available abortions dramatically lower the crime rate by reducing the number of kids born into ill-educated poverty, if all the "Help your neighbour" stuff rubs you up the wrong way.

I'm not saying we should all go communist, and I do happen to think there's a whole slew of problems with the UK's NHS, but arguing against abortions on economic grounds is even more heartless than the pro-life lot.

goog point sir.... im also perplexed as to where public healthcare became a women's issue... while 'decent' to pay for someone elses abortions or prenatal care (whatever thier choice is) it should not be mandatory.. the decent thing for the government or whoever supports it to back off of everyone who is against it.. and pay it themselves... i have made sure to have health insurance.. i have made sure to also have protected sex..... im doing my part... and in my opinion thats enough... if i get laid off or something unforseen like that happens, i will rely on my own preparation and funds to make up for where the very basic government healthcare falls short... and will be GRATEFUL for what the have provided...

I'm not sure I understand what you mean with this statement, and I'm being serious. Could you explain your meaning ?

How is getting pregnant not within a womans control, at least in most situations. Having sex is a choice. Using birth control is a choice. If those aren't within your control, then I am missing something. If I misunderstood your statement, then I apologize.

And Morgan's head may explode now....sorry.