This is incredibly fucked up, especially the part about private insurance. I wish Obama would veto this, but I doubt he cares enough to do it. #epicfail
Does this actually change anything, or would it have been the exact same outcome if they'd just passed the bill without revoking the Hyde Amendment? Because I'm pissed (naturally), but I kinda can't be bothered to be too too extra pissed if it's just more of the status quo ante. #epicfail
During Obama's health care speech over the summer I just about cried when he said that federal funding would not cover abortion services, and the joint houses got to their feet and clapped. I couldn't believe it. Were they really do this? Were they standing up and cheering that women weren't going to get essential medical care?
Fuck anti-choice Democrats. And seriously, fuck Obama for not pulling them into line. This country needs more party discipline.
Agreed with PaintedTrollop below; I'm over the Dems. Weak pricks.
@SkipToMyLou: We're the same people who bash Republicans when they try to enforce "party discipline" by only allowing pro-life candidates to get any fundraising. I'm just saying. #healthcare
I know a lot of insurance companies don't cover it because they consider it "elective" but they cover pregnancy and that is "elective" as well. Plus an abortion/birth control is a hell of a lot cheaper than giving birth and covering the resulting child. I just don't understand the logic.
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@Miss Scarlett is sad at humanity lately: Catholic and Baptist owned and operated hospitals don't do vasectomies or tie ovaries. And they don't do terminations, even when the life of the mother is at risk and the fetus is doomed.
And yet they receive government funding and tax dollars.
@lchen: This is true, and it is equal parts wrong, discriminatory and stupid. If a pregnant woman doesn't get prenatal care, her health and the baby's health are threatened. #healthcare
Allowing a vote puts an enormous amount of pressure on wussy pro-choice Dems who were ready to cave AND anti-choice Dems/Repubs in fairly liberal districts who've gotten away with it for a long period of time.
These assholes are coming up for election soon enough and this will show just what everyone stands for. I think it's a great idea. #healthcare
@battleaxonista...is a humorless bitch: It's a nice thought, except that when those wussy Dems are up for reelection we'll be told that we have to vote for them, because they're better than Republicans. I fail to see how, but that's how it will be presented. That's how these people stay in office.
This is why we need another political party. #healthcare
@PaintedTrollop: But it makes it a hell of a lot easier for more liberal dems to get a foothold in knocking their asses out. The sight of a lot of old white dudes who claim to be Democrat trying to dictate the nation's uterine choices is going to make a whole new generation of Jezebels, methinks. #healthcare
@battleaxonista...is a humorless bitch: I wish I shared your optimism. If the Democrats had the ovaries to stand up and say, "Listen UP - abortion is a legal medical procedure, so just get over it - we're going to fund it" they'd get a lot of support. Instead, they cower, and pander to the right.
@PaintedTrollop: F knows I'm going to hand a lot of money and time to primarying every damn Democrat who votes for that bill. I appreciate the opportunity to see where loyalties lie behind the bullshit and smoke and mirrors. #healthcare
@PaintedTrollop: People probably think I'm a troll because I keep saying this, but I really think moving the political center of the country to the left comes down to abolishing the senate. It really shouldn't exist anyway:
If you had a unicameral legislature, there would be room for a third party because legislation would be more liberal. The coasts and the cities could throw their weight around and push legislation that wouldn't have to be senate-safe. Relating this to your point, a unicameral America would result in either a) all the anti-choice Dems getting chucked without repercussions because there would less need for "big tent" politics or b) a Progressive third party would crack off and the three parties would more effectively reflect the American political spectrum. Either way, I think there would be less chance of anti-choice legislation. #healthcare
@BearDownCBears: this only works if the repubican party also splits it's moderates, libertarian, and hardliners. but guess what, they wont. they have been pushing for non-partisan elections a lot. why? because they will win out because they have their stuff together. the system we have comes out to be the most effective in that it's ineffective enough to keep us from ever really winning or losing it all. the conservatives will never overturn roe v. wade; gay marriage will take a long long long time to pass. but the momentum is on our side. american society (very)slowly edges towards progressiveness(at least social). just look at the age demographic of each party, even as gen y and x'ers age they won't get that much more socially conservative. #healthcare
The reason things happen so slowly is because the senate provides naturally (landlocked, agrarian) conservative parts of the country much more political power per capita than the House. To pass any sort of legislation now short of roll call you effectively need 60 senators, and to do tat the Dems had to widen the tent. This would not be the case with a purely proportionally representational legislature. No Harry Reids or Bob Nelsons straddling the center to pick up both independents and lefties (what litte there are).
To paraphrase Anni Hall, the left is like a shark: it needs to keep moving to stay alive. Conservatives, on the other hand, are only marginally more miserable under governmental gridlock than under GOP rule. Standing athwart history yelling stop, etc. #healthcare
@BearDownCBears: Meaning only having a body of legislature where number of representatives is proportional to how many constituents they represent? Like just the house? And no Senate bullshit where Alaska and the Dakotas gets as many votes as California or New York even though there are SOOOO many more people living in the latter states?
I don't understand legal speak very well, but if that's what you're suggesting, I'd say HELL YES, and let's get rid of the electoral college while we're at it.
I'm sick of my vote not counting because I live in states that other people prefer living in because they are BETTER PLACES.
No offense to people who live in underpopulated areas. I don't disrespect your area, but I just think that it says something if groups of people congregate in certain areas, and those individuals shouldn't be punished in terms of how much their vote counts because of said living decisions. #healthcare
I think we need a similar quibble with health care to point out how stupid this is. How about "Since gluttony is a sin, and you block arteries by eating fatty foods (aka YOU GLUTTON!) I REFUSE to have a public option that supports heart surgery. I refuse to pay for your immoral lifestyle." #healthcare
@LaComtesse: And while were at it, let's not cover chemo for people with lung cancer! Since all people with lung cancer must have made the choice to get themselves in that position. #healthcare
@brenbrowning: Or insulin for the diabetics (gluttony again!) or meds for the mentally ill, since God is afflicting them with demons. I mean, really, I think medicine is evil anyway, since GOD should be the only one deciding who lives or dies. If people pray hard enough they'll get better. #healthcare
@LaComtesse: Or mental health. If those crazy people would just stop, think and get a grip, everything would be fine. Depressed people could just smile and be happy again. It's easy but they just don't want to do it. #healthcare
@mfnher: Nope. Many private insurance companies don't even cover contraception. I've never had insurance, private or otherwise, that covered abortion--even a medically necessary abortion. #healthcare
@mfnher: I think a decent number of them do. So if this passes, it means that anyone who gets a federal subsidy to buy insurance wouldn't be able to buy that insurance. Which means that a lot of insurance companies will probably drop it, so that they can be among those available to people with subsidies. Which means fewer companies covering abortion. Which is what these people want. Which pisses me the fuck off. #healthcare
@mfnher: According to an AP report this summer (July)-"Robert Zirkelbach, a spokesman for America’s Health Insurance Plans, the insurance industry’s trade association, who said, "Most insurers offer plans that include this coverage, but most employers choose not to offer it as part of their benefits package." #healthcare
@la.donna.pietra: Really? Maybe it's because I've always worked for major corporations, but I've always had contraception covered. In fact, they just paid for my $800 IUD. #healthcare
@cate3710: I better start getting my donation ready for Planned Parenthood now. If that happens, they will be over burdened with people looking for cheaper access. #healthcare
@la.donna.pietra: When I had a plan through an employer, it actually would have covered 80% of an elective abortion procedure, but offered 0 coverage for contraceptives. Makes perfect sense, eh? #healthcare
@Norton: I saw MoGlo's comment earlier this week, and I think it's important to distinguish between "big, well-off financial corporations" and "corporations in general." She was specifically referring to major finance companies. #healthcare
@mfnher: I have had contraception--as in, the Pill, not an IUD, vasectomy, or tubal ligation--covered at two of the places I've worked in the past 14 years. Two. #healthcare
@unsecretcrush: When the company that I did HR for was shopping around for a new insurance plan, we saw a few like that. Completely bizarre--but probably very profitable. #healthcare
@TheUptightMidwesterner: Honestly, there's no way I would make an abortion claim through my workplace insurance. I don't need some anti-choice asshole in HR causing trouble for me down the line.
Luckily, I don't have to worry about such things because I live in a country where my universal healthcare covers abortion. But I feel really bad for you guys. This is bullshit. #healthcare
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Sounds about right. #epicfail
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@JessickerFletcher: #healthcare
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Fuck anti-choice Democrats. And seriously, fuck Obama for not pulling them into line. This country needs more party discipline.
Agreed with PaintedTrollop below; I'm over the Dems. Weak pricks.
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I'm going to go break something now. #healthcare
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And yet they receive government funding and tax dollars.
Why? #healthcare
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These assholes are coming up for election soon enough and this will show just what everyone stands for. I think it's a great idea. #healthcare
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This is why we need another political party. #healthcare
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I'm so over the Democratic Party. #healthcare
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[www.economist.com]
[www.slate.com]
If you had a unicameral legislature, there would be room for a third party because legislation would be more liberal. The coasts and the cities could throw their weight around and push legislation that wouldn't have to be senate-safe. Relating this to your point, a unicameral America would result in either a) all the anti-choice Dems getting chucked without repercussions because there would less need for "big tent" politics or b) a Progressive third party would crack off and the three parties would more effectively reflect the American political spectrum. Either way, I think there would be less chance of anti-choice legislation. #healthcare
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[yglesias.thinkprogress.org]
The reason things happen so slowly is because the senate provides naturally (landlocked, agrarian) conservative parts of the country much more political power per capita than the House. To pass any sort of legislation now short of roll call you effectively need 60 senators, and to do tat the Dems had to widen the tent. This would not be the case with a purely proportionally representational legislature. No Harry Reids or Bob Nelsons straddling the center to pick up both independents and lefties (what litte there are).
To paraphrase Anni Hall, the left is like a shark: it needs to keep moving to stay alive. Conservatives, on the other hand, are only marginally more miserable under governmental gridlock than under GOP rule. Standing athwart history yelling stop, etc. #healthcare
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I don't understand legal speak very well, but if that's what you're suggesting, I'd say HELL YES, and let's get rid of the electoral college while we're at it.
I'm sick of my vote not counting because I live in states that other people prefer living in because they are BETTER PLACES.
No offense to people who live in underpopulated areas. I don't disrespect your area, but I just think that it says something if groups of people congregate in certain areas, and those individuals shouldn't be punished in terms of how much their vote counts because of said living decisions. #healthcare
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Luckily, I don't have to worry about such things because I live in a country where my universal healthcare covers abortion. But I feel really bad for you guys. This is bullshit. #healthcare
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