Will The War Ever End?
By EOM Staff
John McCain recently said that the war on women was “imaginary”. I wonder if a woman in Texas who wants to have a legal abortion, but first has to have a trans-vaginal probe ultrasound (medically unnecessary and expensive) thinks it’s imaginary. Is that an imaginary probe she’s feeling? I wonder if women in Wisconsin, who have to have THREE visits to the same doctor prior to having an abortion, think it’s imaginary. I wonder if this same woman in Wisconsin, who now is banned from having a pill-induced abortion and must have a surgical abortion (with its risks of infection and bleeding that do not occur with a pill-induced abortion) thinks it’s imaginary. I wonder if physicians in Wisconsin who are now subject to criminal penalties for providing a pill-induced abortion think it’s imaginary.
And now the House of Representatives has advanced a bill keeping student loans at a low interest rate. That’s a wonderful thing to do, but do you know what they are doing to counter the lost revenue? They are taking away money from the Prevention and Public Health Fund, which is part of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act. That’s right, take away the funding for low income women and families to have mammograms, pap smears and immunizations for children. Speaker of the House John Boehner referred to this money as a “slush fund”. That’s a pretty telling statement about how he feels about health care for low-income women and children.
If you’ve never been without health insurance, I suppose it might be hard to be sympathetic to the millions of uninsured Americans. But consider this – someone is laid off from their job and they have the option to continue their health care coverage (the Cobra law). Sounds good, right? Sounds great until you get the enrollment forms in the mail and find out that your coverage may cost $1000 a month or more. Who can afford that when they are unemployed? So, you choose between making your mortgage payment or spending $12,000 or more a year on coverage that you may never use. Yes, we should all make every effort to have coverage but in many cases it is simply unrealistic.
We all know it’s hard to find a job right now. Most jobs available in the Modesto area right now pay minimum wage. Many of the small employers don’t offer health insurance to their employees. In these cases, it’s truly a matter of having food on the table or having health insurance.
Yes, this is a war on women, particularly low-income women. The Republicans just want you to think it’s “imaginary”. Talk to your mothers, your wives, your sisters and daughters. Ask them if they think it’s imaginary. You might be surprised at their answers.
Eye On Modesto 