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Women's Rights and Health Insurance Reform
An open letter to my senators and representatives.
Look up your Reps and send your letter here.
I am writing to you today regarding the health care reform bill currently before the house and senate.
The bill as it currently stands sets women's rights back decades. Not only does the bill currently not provide access to safe, legal abortions, but it also does not provide access to the hormonal birth control which would reduce the necessity for abortions. If women are not provided access to safe legal abortions, some women will be forced return to back alley hack-job abortions, coat hanger abortions, or chemical abortions. The greatest benefit of Roe vs. Wade was not that it allowed women to have abortions, women were already having them, but allowing women to have SAFE abortions. In addition, removing access to hormonal birth control will only increase the need for illegal unsafe abortions.
What's even worse is that the bill as it currently stands does not allow for pelvic exams, a necessary routine yearly medical examination for the physical health of women. This routine preventative exam helps catch the early stages of fertility and life threatening diseases such as ovarian cancer or cervical cancer. Removing access to such exams threatens the lives of every woman on such a health plan, and will increase health care costs in the long run through treating the full blown disease instead of preventing it. In addition only women are being denied access to routine exams, giving the message that only men should have the right to good health care.
I urge you to work towards a more equitable health care bill by supporting any amendments that would provide access to abortion, to hormonal birth control, and to pelvic exams.
Look up your Reps and send your letter here.
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Abortion is a very touchy subject. I realize that, and I don't expect my views to be embraced by everyone. I happen to think that careless pregnancies do exist, and I also think there are some women who view them as inconveniences rather than a complicated matter. I don't feel this is an overgeneralization because I made it clear that it was some women. Not all women are saints just like not all men are. However, it's not up to the insurance companies or the government to make a moral judgment, so I don't think these situations can or should be prevented by laws. They can only be prevented through education.
I know some of my wording didn't get my point across correctly and could be construed as offensive. Perhaps the point is offensive, but I won't pretend to think otherwise. I view coverage of abortions like many other programs. There will always be instances of using the system incorrectly, but for the greater good, they must be endured, and hopefully with better education, they will be reduced. It doesn't mean I'm happy with them. My taxpayer money goes to a lot of things I don't use or agree with, but that's the price I pay for all the good things it does go toward.
I do apologize for hijacking the post and turning it into a debate on abortion. That was not my intent. My initial reply was simply to find out where in the bills the claims in the open letter were referring to because I couldn't find them. I should not have injected my opinion on federally funded abortions.
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