Posts tagged health care
married to trouble
How did your brain even learn human speech? I'm just so curious.
Save the Rich: “Papa” John Schnatter Edition
“Papa” John Schnatter, Papa John’s founder and CEO, is back in the headlines once more for his assertion that there’s no way on God’s green Earth he can afford to provide health care for a portion of his employees, as mandated by the Affordable Care Act. Now, Schnatter hasn’t been hurting for cash. As Brian Warner writes:
When Papa John Schnatter hosted a fundraiser for Mitt Romney earlier this year, the Republican candidate began his remarks by saying: “Who would’ve imagined pizza could build this? This is really something. Don’t you love this country? What a home this is, what grounds these are, the pool, the golf course…. This is a real tribute to America, to entrepreneurship.” If your house impresses Mitt Romney, the ultimate one percenter, you know it must be pretty awesome. To start, John Schnatter’s 40,000 square foot castle is located in a wealthy country club suburb of Louisville, Kentucky. The property is spread out over a 16 acre estate and as Romney mentioned, features several swimming pools, a private lake and a golf course.
But who knows what’s going to happen now that the health care mandate could supposedly cost him $0.15 a pizza?! Schnatter claims the costs will be $5-8 million per year — though he had no trouble with giving away two million free pizzas this September that cost the company 24 to 32 million dollars.
Maybe he was counting on Mitt Romney winning.
Anyhow, I’ve decided to take Garfunkel and Oats’ advice and save the rich, one wealthy CEO at a time. Joining me is easy. First, get an envelope and address it [click to zoom]:
Mine reads:
Papa John Schnatter
1904 Stone Gate Rd. <— (address listed for political fundraisers)
Louisville, KY 40223Or you can send it to Papa John’s Corporate:
2002 Papa John’s Boulevard
Louisville, KY 40299 orPapa John’s International, Inc.
P.O. Box 99900
Louisville, KY 40269-9990My letter [click to zoom]:
As I wrote, I may not be able to afford their overpriced pizza, but I can afford a nickel, a dime, and a stamp. I encourage folks to help save the rich and send Papa John some nickels and dimes to offset this gigantic burden, especially since it’s not financially feasible for him to survive without the extra few million. Apparently.
It’s the least we can do for folks working under such a selfish bastard.
Cheers,
Meg
CC: everyone who says “wahhhhh i don’t want to pay for your birth control”
(via rabbleprochoice)
I know I’ve told this story before, but I want you all to know. I mean really really know.
In February of 2010, my younger sister (who was 14 at the time.) was in a really bad accident. She fractured her skull, broke her eye socket, and her brain started to swell rapidly. She was put into a medical coma to keep her brain safe from the swelling and after 36 hours she had to have brain surgery because she developed a blood clot. See that tube at the top of her head in the first picture? That’s going into her head..
She spent nearly 6 weeks in the hospital. She had to relearn a lot of basic functions like walking, and changing her clothes. But she trooped through and made it back home. For almost 2 weeks while they kept her sedated, we had no idea what we were going to do, how damaged her brain was. It was the most terrifying time in my life watching my little sister struggle to stay alive.
She was uninsured, but with the help of a great children’s hospital, and donations from all over the world (Hey! Thanks tumblr <3) we were able to keep her initial costs very low. But the graces of good people can only go so far. She needed physical therapy, and regular check ups for a long time after her initial release from the hospital.
My grandparents gained custody of my little sister, and they tried to get her put on my grandfather’s (private) insurance plan. She was denied because of her accident. Because she had a pre-existing condition. My family is lower middle class, and could not even consider affording the out of pocket costs of the therapy my sister needed
Within weeks of being denied, the Affordable Healthcare Act went into effect. I encouraged my grandmother to re-apply for my sister to be insured.
The insurance company had to cover my sister. Because of Obamacare, my little sister was able to go to her therapy. She was able to take the medications she needed, and go to the doctor for regular check ups. She was able to get the care that she needed, and she is now 17 years old, and has been medically cleared to participate in all the things a kid is supposed to do. She drives. She goes to the beach with her friends, she is going to start college soon.
I am terrified of how different things could be for my beautiful sister if she wasn’t covered under an insurance plan. I want Obamacare. I want other families standing terrified at the foot of a hospital bed to know the person they love is more than just a profit. More than a number. They are taken care of, and they have a President that is willing to really fight to make sure they can keep that coverage.
The bottom picture was taken in August of this year.
(Source: kissing-whiskey, via lagertha-lodbrok)
“Virginia Gov. McDonnell (R) just forced state health board to shut down ALL abortion clinics!” (Daily Kos 2012)
FRI SEP 14, 2012 AT 06:34 PM PDT
Rachel Maddow just reported on this. Under pressure from Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell (R) and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R), the state Board of Health reversed their prior ruling and applied a new trap law designed to shut down every single abortion clinic in the entire state.
Under pressure from Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, the Virginia Board of Health voted on Friday to pass a set of building regulations that could force many abortion clinics in the state to shut down.Opponents of the regulations, which include minimum hallway widths, specific ventilation systems and covered entrances, argue that they are medically unnecessary and meant for the construction of new hospitals — not as regulations for existing outpatient abortion clinics. None of the 20 clinics in the state that are applying for a new license currently meet the requirements, and in order to come into compliance in the allotted two-year time period they would have to undergo costly, extensive renovations.
The board voted to pass the regulations in June along with an amendment that would have grandfathered in existing clinics. But Cuccinelli refused to certify the version the board passed and told members that adopting such an amendment was outside their scope of power. He said the legislation that directed the board to regulate abortion clinics as hospitals, sponsored by Del. Kathy Byron (R-Lynchburg), did not intend for existing clinics to be exempt. The legislation called for the board to pass regulations on building specifics.
More from the Washington Post.
This is the anti-choicers’ new MO - instead of attacking Roe v. Wade, they gut health care funding and shut down clinics by any means possible.
Many of the abortion providers in Virginia also offer other general and reproductive health care services, including some who also offer a sliding fee scale for those who can’t afford regularly-priced health care. Is Virginia equipped to deal with the demand for these crucial services if they shut the clinics down? I doubt it.
There’s still time. If McDonnell and Cuccinelli (both Republican cis men - where have I heard that before?) both sign off on the regulations, there will still be a public comment period before the board votes next year.
Virginians, you know what to do.
(Source: dailykos.com, via rabbleprochoice)
Bob Dold Introduces Bill To Protect Planned Parenthood Funding
Freshman Rep. Bob Dold (R-Ill.) on Wednesday introduced H.R. 5650, the Protecting Women’s Access to Health Care Act, which prevents lawmakers from blocking Title X family planning funds to Planned Parenthood because some of its clinics provide abortions.
“Specifically, this legislation says that when it comes to participation in the Title X program, health care providers such as hospitals and health care clinics, including Planned Parenthood, cannot be discriminated against and excluded simply because they choose to offer additional services, separate from Title X,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
If you want to send Rep. Dole (R!!!) your thanks, you can do so here. As a freshman congressman, he likely doesn’t have much power in Congress, and he won’t be getting much support from his fellow Republicans. Still, any pushback against the anti-reproductive rights trend in politics is greatly appreciated.
If more republicans were like this man, congress would probably be able to get some stuff done. Be sure to encourage and thank him for this.
Love,
Rabble
(Source: amyleona)
70 notes &
This is something that it is so easy to lose sight of while making fun of right wing morons cutting women’s health care and deliberately working to slow economic growth so that a Republican can get into office. Lives can literally be lost while playing this fucking games.
When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die.
(Source: agingerlychaoticconcoction, via skepticalavenger)
What is Trans* Repro Justice?
A lot of people when they hear the terms “prochoice”, “reproductive rights” or even “reproductive justice” only think of abortion, but this view is myopic in my opinion. “Reproducing” encompasses many things which includes the right to choose to have children (or give birth and choose adoption), to choose to not have children right now, and to choose to never have children. Reproductive justice frameworks are holistic and look at reproductive rights with the whole person in mind. This means people also have the right to quality and comprehensive sex education, contraception, relevant medical care, the right to be sterilized and the right to not be forcibly sterilized, and a whole host of birthing choices as well (home/natural births, VBACs, the right to refuse c-sections, etc).
Not only that but reproductive rights activists are also concerned with advocating for the personhood/bodily integrity/and autonomy of pregnant people, advocating for reproductive health care as a human right, eradicating obstetric fistula and illegal/unsafe abortion in the developing world, lowering the incidence of teen pregnancy and STIs, lowering the mortality and morbidity rates of pregnant people, improving access to quality healthcare especially for people in poverty. The list goes on and on. Further, we must remember that race, class, disability status, citizenship status, gender, sexual orientation, etc all intersect and all have an effect on how we can or cannot utilize our reproductive rights, and therefore all of those issues must be addressed for reproductive justice to be successful in upholding the rights of all people not just those who are white, wealthy, able-bodied, straight, cis, male citizens.
So what does this have to do with trans* people?
Well, perhaps not everyone within the movement believes “prochoice” should be a holistic philosophy, but I for one, do. We concentrate on abortion rights because that’s the issue so often under attack, but to be actually “prochoice” is much more expansive than that. It’s about bodily integrity and the importance of keeping personal bodily decisions just that, personal. It’s about birthing choices as much as it is abortion. It’s about how the reproductive rights of different segments of society have been effected differently and what that means to all of us as a whole. Intersectionality matters because poc, poor people, disabled people, trans* people, people of various sexual orientations have been targeted differently and yet it’s all part of a larger system that denies those seen as the “other” the freedom to make basic choices in regards to how their bodies are viewed and how they are utilized. Therefore it’s important to remember that the sexist and cissexist system that seeks to control the sexuality, bodies, and reproduction of those it perceives to be women is the same system that actively targets the identities, bodies, reproduction, and sexualities of trans* people. Reproductive rights aren’t about abortion, they’re about the profound and fundamental right to bodily integrity.
So what is trans* repro justice?
It’s the radical notion that:
- Our bodies belong to us and our right to bodily integrity doesn’t dissipate when society becomes aware of our trans*ness.
- Our bodies and identities are valid, no matter how “uncommon” they may be.
- Language matters and so does inclusivity. When your rhetoric excludes us so do your actions, and that sometimes literally kills us.
- We don’t need to be pathologized or “explained” within a cissexist paradigm.
- You don’t need to understand us to respect us.
- Sex and gender are not neat binaries.
- We deserve to have our needs met and our boundaries respected just as much as anyone else.
- Medical care should be easily accessible to every one that needs and wants it.
- Parenthood and reproduction are basic human rights and no person should be sterilized without their consent or knowledge. In the other direction, all people that seek sterilization should be able to do so without jumping through hoops for paternalistic doctors.
- All of us have the right to information about our bodies, that doesn’t exclude or denigrate our identities or misgender us, to ensure we can maintain our health.
- All of us have a right to maintain our humanity, dignity, and health. This doesn’t change with citizen status or prisoner status.
- Intersectionality is important. Trans* activism must be cognizant of it, and willing to acknowledge the power hierarchies and systems of privilege within our own community.
- We all have the right to control our fertility how we see fit (whether through pregnancy, adoption, single parenthood, harvesting eggs, sperm banking, etc), and those services should be accessible and affordable.
- We are perfectly capable of being wonderful parents and raising amazing, well-adjusted children.
- Men can and do give birth. Not all those that give birth are mothers.
- Women can and do impregnate people. Not all those that impregnate are fathers.
- “Mothers” and “fathers” aren’t the only type of parents that exist.
- We have a right to obtain government issued identification documents that acknowledge our identities (even nonbinary ones!) without having to undergo costly surgery we may not even want.
- We shouldn’t have to conform to a coercive, gendered script for the comfort of cis people nor should we be expected to live or perform a typical trans* narrative to be taken seriously.
- We should be able to use public restrooms without being attacked, mocked, or arrested.
- Our identities and bodies shouldn’t be caricatured for the amusement of society.
- We are people. We are valid. We are here to stay.
This is a work in progress. Any additions are welcome!Reblogging here so more people will see this and also to plug my new trans*-centered repro justice blog.
WONDERFUL!
(via bebinn)
As horrible as this imagined future is, it barely begins to touch all of the problems that could exist if someone like Santorum were to win and was able to have his way. There was a time when I used to believe that the sane politicians would stand up and not allow some of the crap to happen, but I’m losing faith in that happening more and more each day. It is scary to me that I can’t say with certainty that some things will never happen. Am I the only one a little terrified by this?
A three-day-old human embryo is a collection of 150 cells called a blastocyst. There are, for the sake of comparison, more than 100,000 cells in the brain of a fly. If our concern is about suffering in this universe, it is rather obvious that we should be more concerned about killing flies than about killing three-day-old human embryos… Many people will argue that the difference between a fly and a three-day-old human embryo is that a three-day-old human embryo is a potential human being. Every cell in your body, given the right manipulations, every cell with a nucleus is now a potential human being. Every time you scratch your nose, you’ve committed a holocaust of potential human beings… Let’s say we grant it that every three-day-old human embryo has a soul worthy of our moral concern. First of all, embryos at this stage can split into identical twins. Is this a case of one soul splitting into two souls? Embryos at this stage can fuse into a chimera. What has happened to the extra human soul in such a case? This is intellectually indefensible, but it’s morally indefensible given that these notions really are prolonging scarcely endurable misery of tens of millions of human beings, and because of the respect we accord religious faith, we can’t have this dialogue in the way that we should. I submit to you that if you think the interests of a three-day-old blastocyst trump the interests of a little girl with spinal cord injuries or a person with full-body burns, your moral intuitions have been obscured by religious metaphysics.
Sam Harris, Letter to a Christian Nation
Get it through your heads, people. Potentiality=/=actuality, and we don’t hand out rights based on mere potential.
(via prolongedeyecontact)
(via bebinn)
FDA poised to put emergency contraception on drugstore shelves
The Politics of Plan B from Media Education Foundation on Vimeo.
On Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration will announce whether it will approve making Plan B (the brand name for emergency contraception or the morning after pill) available for purchase on drugstore shelves - that’s right, next to the condoms and pregnancy tests. Reproductive justice advocates I’ve spoken to over the last few days all think the same thing: they’re going to approve it. I sure hope so.
Kirsten Moore, for example, President & CEO of Reproductive Health Technologies Project, says “While FDA has toyed with women’s health before, all signs point to them doing the right thing at last and letting the science dictate their policy decisions.”
I’m pretty damn optimistic too. The FDA has a lot of embarrassing history to make up for surrounding Plan B. This would be a step away from their ideologically driven past toward the drug, a progressive pro-science move that could restore a bit of that tarnished reputation.
Obviously, if the FDA does pull the trigger - conservatives are going to lose their collective shits. A quick refresher course in the sordid FDA/Plan B history (you can also find this info in The Purity Myth) and what we can expect if Plan B becomes available on drugstore shelves:
oh please please please please please let this happen please
(via bebinn)
