aren't you done fucking up the country yet george?

[urban_faerie_]

URGENT: Please help stop President Bush from selling out women's health care.

We need you to add your comment protesting the Bush administration's consideration of a new HHS rule that would undermine women's access to health care and information. The rule would allow federal funding that is specifically designed to prevent unintended pregnancy and

Comments

[kalliejenn2]

i am all for a woman's right to do what she chooses with her body.

i do think that the wording of this petition is a bit misleading and vague, though...they're not trying to take away funding from places that offer these services, just make sure that doctors or places that don't believe in providing abortions aren't discriminated against in hiring practices or grant funding.

"In the proposal, obtained by The New York Times, the administration says it could cut off federal aid to individuals or entities that discriminate against people who object to abortion on the basis of “religious beliefs or moral convictions."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/15/washington/15rule.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[kalliejenn2]

this is the actual proposal:

http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/emailphotos/pdf/HHS-45-CFR.pdf

[ayelle]

That's not logical, though. It's like saying a hospital refusing to hire a Christian Scientist who would, because of his religious principles, say, refuse to give insulin to a diabetic is religious discrimination. It's not religious discrimination, it's not hiring someone who wouldn't do the job in question. This bill is another way of saying "You're not a allowed to refuse to hire someone who wouldn't do the job you're hiring them to do." It's got nothing to do with religious discrimination and everything to do with chipping away at women's rights. IMHO.

[kalliejenn2]

oh, don't get me wrong...i still think it's a retarded and extremely misguided rule. i just think that the way planned parenthood words this makes it sound so much worse than it actually is. my general feeling is that people should actually *read* the proposal before they get all incensed about it...instead of just trusting what PP tells them blindly.

[ayelle]

This whole thing is so upsetting. I'm particularly distressed by the threat against birth control pills given that my sister (not the one who lives around here) recently had surgery for several conditions (ovarian cysts, ovarian tumor, noncancerous breast lump) that, I was reminded, actually kind of run in my family... but all of which are significantly reduced risks in those who are on the BCP, especially those who, like me, have been on it for many years.

Though various other female relatives have had these problems, my mother never did -- but then she, like me, was also on the pill for some ten years or so.

Just yet another way in which this SUCKS. The idea that I could have a doctor who would refuse to prescribe this medication to be because they considered it morally akin to abortion boggles the mind and enrages. (I've seen it debated that the BCP wouldn't fall under this new definition of abortion -- but since in addition to preventing most ovulation, it can, in fact, also prevent the rare fertilized egg that got by from

[kalliejenn2]

also, they don't say that there's only one definition of abortion...

"Because the statutes that would be enforced through this regulation seek, in part, to protect individuals and institutions from suffering discrimination on the basis of conscience, the conscience of the individual or institution should be paramount in determining what constitutes abortion, within the bounds of reason. As discussed above, both definitions of pregnancy are reasonable and used within the scientific and medical community. The Department proposes, then, to allow individuals and institutions to adhere to their own views and adopt a definition of abortion that encompasses both views of abortion."

more here...http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2008/07/15/hhs-moves-define-contraception-abortion

[ayelle]

I replied to this above.

FWIW I did read the actual proposal already.

[kalliejenn2]

it's not you i'm worried about...it's all the people who just read what PP has written, not question it at all, and just go sign the petition without understanding what the proposal is really getting at because they haven't read it.

[journeystar]

I agree with Jenn

[urban_faerie_]

my problem with that is that if they chip away at plan b it will be easier to justify taking away other forms of birth control in the future.