Bitch-slapped by the Invisible Hand
If you follow dKos as your first newsfeed aggregator of choice, you've already been aware of these cases, and the syncretic whole they are parts of. If not, you might have missed the story that Chico Dave RN and Robin NWLC posted about yesterday, in which it is revealed that having been raped and sought medical care afterwards is grounds for denial by our good capitalist overlords in the oh-so-profitable Health Care Rationing Industry - which goes right along with having been abused by your male "protector" and with having had common and and in past eras fatal difficulties giving birth - all of which are conditions disproportionately affecting women - are "preexisting conditions" for which someone may be denied any and all coverage no matter what one has paid for.
Now, you might think it a bit hypocritical that the same conservative status quotidians who are always going on about how American/Western (read "white") women aren't having enough babies, and how Democrats and liberals are "anti-life", should say things like "Having a child is a choice" and thus one that women should be additionally penalized for, beyond all the usual workplace and family and health consequences of pregnancy and motherhood. You might think that an HMO reoganized for profitability by someone who is so notably prolife might be even more careful of appearances in this regard. But you'd be wrong, just as you would be if you wondered if conservatarians were actually serious when they wondered why women in this country tend to vote so much more strongly liberal/Democratic and attribute it to soft-headed sentimentality rather than cold-blooded self-interest.
(The Hegemony has no shame. Never has, never will. Never forget this.)
Remember, it wasn't Republicans/conservatives - or libertarians - who fought and pushed for equal pay, either, or any end to gender-based discrimination throughout the years - including the right to fight against such discrimination once discovered and proven. The "free market" and its worshippers are no friends to women, no matter how much some of them may celebrate a pedestalled "femininity."
Even, however, if like Sen. Kyl you think that such "women's issues" are no matter to your life because you're not one of us, you should not feel complacent: they can, and will get you, too. Unless you're rich enough to pay for all possible treatment out of your own pockets, or have dependable friends-and-relations who will do it for you in an emergency, the odds are good that you'll have to be fighting for your life at just the times when you're going to be least up to it.
Now, you might think it a bit hypocritical that the same conservative status quotidians who are always going on about how American/Western (read "white") women aren't having enough babies, and how Democrats and liberals are "anti-life", should say things like "Having a child is a choice" and thus one that women should be additionally penalized for, beyond all the usual workplace and family and health consequences of pregnancy and motherhood. You might think that an HMO reoganized for profitability by someone who is so notably prolife might be even more careful of appearances in this regard. But you'd be wrong, just as you would be if you wondered if conservatarians were actually serious when they wondered why women in this country tend to vote so much more strongly liberal/Democratic and attribute it to soft-headed sentimentality rather than cold-blooded self-interest.
(The Hegemony has no shame. Never has, never will. Never forget this.)
Remember, it wasn't Republicans/conservatives - or libertarians - who fought and pushed for equal pay, either, or any end to gender-based discrimination throughout the years - including the right to fight against such discrimination once discovered and proven. The "free market" and its worshippers are no friends to women, no matter how much some of them may celebrate a pedestalled "femininity."
Even, however, if like Sen. Kyl you think that such "women's issues" are no matter to your life because you're not one of us, you should not feel complacent: they can, and will get you, too. Unless you're rich enough to pay for all possible treatment out of your own pockets, or have dependable friends-and-relations who will do it for you in an emergency, the odds are good that you'll have to be fighting for your life at just the times when you're going to be least up to it.