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  • MONDAY NOVEMBER 19 2007 4:00 PM

Noticed Your Birth Control Costing More? Tell Congress



Remember this piece about birth control costs for college students going up because the Bush administration cut the funding that helps subsidize it?

Well, college students around the country, with the help of NARAL, organized petition drives on campus, and as a result of their work, there's a bill wending its way through Congress now--HR 4054, the Prevention Through Affordable Access Act--that does just what its title suggests: restores college and university access to low-cost birth control.

this fall, college women returned to campus to discover that the birth control that previously cost them $5–10 for a monthly supply now cost $40–50 per pack, making it far more difficult to afford. Due to a provision included in the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA), as of January 1, 2007, every college and university health center and hundreds of safety-net providers were unintentionally cut off from accessing low-cost birth control and passing on the low price to college women and low-income women. The result has been an increase in the average price of birth control on college campuses, often to 10 times the previous cost.

Rep. Crowley’s legislation, The Prevention Through Affordable Access Act, would bring down the soaring cost of birth control at college health clinics and safety-net providers and increase access to affordable birth control. This legislation will not cost the taxpayers a single dime, and would restore the voluntary benefit to college health clinics and safety-net providers. (My emphasis.)



Should be a no-brainer, but you can't count on that in a world where plenty of legislators think Plan B causes abortion (it doesn't) or that it's a-okay for pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions to women.

So take half a minute to click through and send a letter to your representative urging them to support HR 4054.

Bitch_PhD can't wait for a decent national health program that'll cover birth control for everyone.

 

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MrOuijaAK

MrOuijaAK

Anchorage, AK
September 2005

NOV 19, 2007 07:29 PM

Cairo said:

MrOuijaAK said:
How is it stupid that I don't want to pay for other people's shit?



Bitch_PhD said:
This legislation will not cost the taxpayers a single dime



Reading comprehension is your friend.



I read it, I just forgot to address it.

First off, NOTHING is free. Someone pays for it somewhere somehow. That statement can be a spin of, "Taxes won't be raised for this, funds will just be re-appropriated from something else."

Secondly, it's already costing money. Do you think legislators work for free? They're time spent reviewing the bill costs money before the bill even passes.

BlackBettiePaige

BlackBettiePaige

Hillside, NJ
January 2006

NOV 19, 2007 07:31 PM

Hmmmm last time I checked birth control is not 10 dollars!!! BC is expensive and depending on what form that you use, can cost up 300 without insurance. Wow, people need really inform themselves before they post nonsense. I wish i could get bc for 10, and many insurance companies no longer cover BC, so how does that work? Mind you have to refill BC every month or every few months. Oh and Legislators make money, Ive never seen one in the checkout counter at my local supermarket or driving themselves to thier local store. So, they are making money doing what now....oh yeah fucking us over.

Formus

Formus

Milwaukee, WI
May 2007

NOV 19, 2007 07:31 PM

MrOuijaAK said:
A) And I want my community to be improved, by having members who pull their own weight.


Because the poor don't like, work three jobs just to feed their kids or anything. I have no idea whose propaganda you swallowed to feed these shallow, ill-informed ideas, but please PLEASE stop paying attention to them.

I'd prefer that people were forced to be more responsible about their choices, instead of depending on the government to bail them out.


You honestly believe that poverty is a fuckng CHOICE? You're out of your god damn mind.

My mother raised me on her own from birth, she doesn't come from a family with money, and she never had to go on welfare. She took responsibility for her actions, despite my father not, and didn't need a free ride on the taxpayers dollar.


Eureka.

MrOuijaAK

MrOuijaAK

Anchorage, AK
September 2005

NOV 19, 2007 07:35 PM

BlackBettiePaige said:
Hmmmm last time I checked birth control is not 10 dollars!!! BC is expensive and depending on what form that you use, can cost up 300 without insurance. Wow, people need really inform themselves before they post nonsense. I wish i could get bc for 10, and many insurance companies no longer cover BC, so how does that work?



I was using hypothetical products and companies. The actual price was unimportant. You can replace it with X Dollars and X-20% and X+20%.

Formus

Formus

Milwaukee, WI
May 2007

NOV 19, 2007 07:36 PM

MrOuijaAK said:
The actual price was unimportant.


In this belief lies the fundamental problem of your entire fourth grade argument.

FreakPirate

FreakPirate

Canada
November 2002

NOV 19, 2007 07:42 PM

Yeah... No one ever makes mistakes, gets a raw deal or is raised at a complete disadvantage. Society is perfect and when bad things happen it's the person's own fucking fault. No one ever needs help with anything.

How the fuck does your country function? I know not everyone down there is a selfish prick. Do they just come out when threads like this come up?

MrOuijaAK

MrOuijaAK

Anchorage, AK
September 2005

NOV 19, 2007 07:43 PM

Formus said:

MrOuijaAK said:
A) And I want my community to be improved, by having members who pull their own weight.


Because the poor don't like, work three jobs just to feed their kids or anything. I have no idea whose propaganda you swallowed to feed these shallow, ill-informed ideas, but please PLEASE stop paying attention to them.

I'd prefer that people were forced to be more responsible about their choices, instead of depending on the government to bail them out.


You honestly believe that poverty is a fuckng CHOICE? You're out of your god damn mind.

My mother raised me on her own from birth, she doesn't come from a family with money, and she never had to go on welfare. She took responsibility for her actions, despite my father not, and didn't need a free ride on the taxpayers dollar.


Eureka.



Working 3 jobs and still poor? How many kids does this imaginary person have, that they're still able to collect benefits while working 3 jobs?

And yes, I believe being poor is a choice. The homeless guy you give money to, who buys beer with it; he chooses to be homeless. Anyone can get a job at McDonald's and a second job at Wal-Mart, they'll hire pretty much anyone. Two crap jobs are enough to support oneself. You won't have the most glamorous lifestyle, but you won't need handouts to survive.

FreakPirate

FreakPirate

Canada
November 2002

NOV 19, 2007 07:45 PM

I hope no one you ever know or care about finds themselves in desperate circumstances. Because they will kick your ass when they hear you spout this drivel.

MrOuijaAK

MrOuijaAK

Anchorage, AK
September 2005

NOV 19, 2007 07:51 PM

FreakPirate said:
Yeah... No one ever makes mistakes, gets a raw deal or is raised at a complete disadvantage. Society is perfect and when bad things happen it's the person's own fucking fault. No one ever needs help with anything.

How the fuck does your country function? I know not everyone down there is a selfish prick. Do they just come out when threads like this come up?



Mistakes? Deal with the consequences. People will never learn if they constantly get bailed out.

Raised at a disadvantage? Yes, having a privileged upbringing makes things easier. But being born with a rusty spoon in your mouth doesn't bar you from being successful. And getting free shit from the government isn't going to drive you to strive for more and improve your standing in life.

Formus

Formus

Milwaukee, WI
May 2007

NOV 19, 2007 07:52 PM

MrOuijaAK said:
Working 3 jobs and still poor? How many kids does this imaginary person have, that they're still able to collect benefits while working 3 jobs?


You have got to be fucking KIDDING ME. Two kids. Two fucking kids. Two kids who need health care, clothing, food, and shelter. Two kids that a divorced single woman in an inner city can't afford on the wages she earns from the jobs that are available in her area.

Have you ever been out of Alaska?

And yes, I believe being poor is a choice. The homeless guy you give money to, who buys beer with it; he chooses to be homeless.


Unless he's mentally ill. Which, you know, a lot of homeless people are. Wait, nevermind, you probably didn't know that.

Anyone can get a job at McDonald's and a second job at Wal-Mart, they'll hire pretty much anyone. Two crap jobs are enough to support oneself.


What fucking reality do you live in? A reality where you have to work less than eight hours a day at McDonald's to be able to feed yourself, let alone your children? A reality where Wal-Mart doesn't discriminate based on sex? A reality where any low-wage employer even considers health care for their employees?

You are ignorant as to the experience of the impoverished American. You live in Alaska, the whitest state in the Union, as well as the state with the sixth-highest median income. You've probably never even met a poor person to be so goddamn ignorant as to their situations and the complexity of the issue of poverty. You spout off generic, selfish economic rhetoric without any understanding whatsoever of economics that you didn't learn from a fucking Ronald Reagan speech.

FreakPirate

FreakPirate

Canada
November 2002

NOV 19, 2007 07:54 PM

MrOuijaAK said:

Mistakes? Deal with the consequences. People will never learn if they constantly get bailed out.

Raised at a disadvantage? Yes, having a privileged upbringing makes things easier. But being born with a rusty spoon in your mouth doesn't bar you from being successful. And getting free shit from the government isn't going to drive you to strive for more and improve your standing in life.



You liked Catcher in the Rye didn't you...

MrOuijaAK

MrOuijaAK

Anchorage, AK
September 2005

NOV 19, 2007 08:11 PM

Formus said:

MrOuijaAK said:
Working 3 jobs and still poor? How many kids does this imaginary person have, that they're still able to collect benefits while working 3 jobs?


You have got to be fucking KIDDING ME. Two kids. Two fucking kids. Two kids who need health care, clothing, food, and shelter. Two kids that a divorced single woman in an inner city can't afford on the wages she earns from the jobs that are available in her area.

Have you ever been out of Alaska?

And yes, I believe being poor is a choice. The homeless guy you give money to, who buys beer with it; he chooses to be homeless.


Unless he's mentally ill. Which, you know, a lot of homeless people are. Wait, nevermind, you probably didn't know that.

Anyone can get a job at McDonald's and a second job at Wal-Mart, they'll hire pretty much anyone. Two crap jobs are enough to support oneself.


What fucking reality do you live in? A reality where you have to work less than eight hours a day at McDonald's to be able to feed yourself, let alone your children? A reality where Wal-Mart doesn't discriminate based on sex? A reality where any low-wage employer even considers health care for their employees?

You are ignorant as to the experience of the impoverished American. You live in Alaska, the whitest state in the Union, as well as the state with the sixth-highest median income. You've probably never even met a poor person to be so goddamn ignorant as to their situations and the complexity of the issue of poverty. You spout off generic, selfish economic rhetoric without any understanding whatsoever of economics that you didn't learn from a fucking Ronald Reagan speech.



Actually I was born in a pretty crappy neighborhood in Phoenix. You've probably seen my grandmother's house on Cops a few times.

As for Alaska. My mother and step-father both work for a non-profit company and together make less than I make now in my 20s. When it was just my mother and I, we lived in one of the worst neighborhoods in town. Most of the kids in school took the free lunches. Most of them were on welfare. They also had more toys than me, but hey my Mom couldn't afford them.

I have employees which have no diploma, they get health insurance after 6 months, and they make several dollars an hour over minimum wage. Basically if they haven't killed anyone and can pass a drug test, they get hired. And I work for one of the largest companies in the US. Yet you're telling me people can't find jobs which pay enough to raise their families, even if they're working multiple jobs? I'll remember that the next time I see someone talking on their cellphone while using their Food Stamp card in line at the grocery store.

Formus

Formus

Milwaukee, WI
May 2007

NOV 19, 2007 08:19 PM

MrOuijaAK said:
I have employees which have no diploma, they get health insurance after 6 months, and they make several dollars an hour over minimum wage.


That's great. Unfortunately, none of the corporations who employ the most impoverished Americans think the same way you do, and they see absolutely no reason why they should. Sorry.

Basically if they haven't killed anyone and can pass a drug test, they get hired. And I work for one of the largest companies in the US. Yet you're telling me people can't find jobs which pay enough to raise their families, even if they're working multiple jobs?


Yes, I fucking am. I live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a city with one of the largest, poorest inner cities in the entire country, and have come into contact with these situations on a regular basis throughout my life. And our Welfare laws were overhauled recently, making welfare essentially only available to people with at least one job. And they still need more jobs to be able to afford essential goods and services, like Fucking Heat and Fucking Food and Fucking Health Care, all of which are Fucking Expensive. Go watch Bowling For Columbine.

I'll remember that the next time I see someone talking on their cellphone while using their Food Stamp card in line at the grocery store.


Because the actions of one person totally represent the mentality of millions of others. Way to use logic there.

FreakPirate

FreakPirate

Canada
November 2002

NOV 19, 2007 08:21 PM

Tell me something, and don't lie to me... People would elect this asshole wouldn't they?

Formus

Formus

Milwaukee, WI
May 2007

NOV 19, 2007 08:22 PM

FreakPirate said:
Tell me something, and don't lie to me... People would elect this asshole wouldn't they?



Ron Paul 2008!

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