September 2009 Archives

As expected, amendments from Senator Orren Hatch to further restrict abortion were defeated Wednesday.

Most interesting to me is the rise of a new argument: the Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus noted that the status quo is to ban federal funding for abortion -- but that the ban has to be renewed each year. The Hatch amendment would have made the ban permanent and therefore, argued Baucus, did not reflect the status quo.

(Both sides have been arguing that they are merely trying to cofidy the status quo rather than move the ball in the direction of their side).

UDPATE: Cathy Grossman at USA Today probes the implications of the committee's decision to fund abstinence-only education programs.

In the comment thread on my post about Westboro Baptist Church's visit to Brooklyn, Jay writes:

"I think you underestimate the links between Westboro and the Southern Baptists and other more mainstream Christian religions, nearly all of which trumpet the very same verses when they condemn homosexuality. Similarly, you also don't seem to realize the history of anti-Semitism in Christian churches. Westboro may be a laughable collection of rude and stupid people, but they are different only in degree to many other Christians. And in the long run, I believe that the homophobia of more respectable churches has harmed far more people than the silly pranks of Westboro."

I disagree.

By Jay's logic, the fact that Cuba has national health care means that those who want universal heatlh care here differ "only by degree" with Communist leader Fidel Castro. At a certain point, the differences so outnumber the similarities that implying they're close cousins becomes misleading.

Yes, Westboro quotes the same Bible passages against homosexuality as conservative Christians -- but Westboro also jubilantly celebrates the deaths of gays. Yes, Westboro argues that America's behavior has angered God (as some conservative Christians have) -- but they also picket the funerals of soldiers who have died defending America.

It is absolutely worth conservative Christians examining the logical progression of their ideas, just as those who want more government intervention in health care should consider the worst case scenarios, too. But part of being a good person, and a good society, is knowing how to put on the brakes as you slide down the slippery slope. One essential ingredient is for those who come from the same branch of the genealogical tree as the extremists to denounce them. The Southern Baptists, and other conservative Christians, have done so with Westboro.

David Kirkpatrick's New York Times article about abortion-and-health-care politics included the stunning disclosure that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is meeting today with the leading pro-life Democrat for the first time.

According to the Times piece, Rep. Bart Stupak, a Democrat of Michigan, got a call from President Obama ten days ago urging him to "get this thing worked out among the Democrats."

Let me get this straight: 40 pro-life Democrats said long ago that they wouldn't support health care unless they can be assured the plan doesn't subsidize abortion, and Pelosi is only now meeting with their leader? The Catholic Bishops said they want to support health care reform if they can get a tenable abortion position, but the Speaker hasn't met with the member of Congress closest to their views until now?

This underlines a point I've been making to my pro-choice readers who think that having won the election, they don't need to accomodate pro-life viewpoints: "You" didn't put Obama in the White House or Democrats in Congress. A diverse coalition did. One quarter of Obama's vote was pro-life. 40 Democratic members of the House are pro-life.

Again, I'm not arguing a particular substantive position. I'm just saying that from a tactical perspective, for those who believe passing health care reform is important, it's astounding that a full-court outreach to pro-life Democrats is happening so late in the game. Maybe there was some brilliant strategy for waiting until now -- i.e. waiting until after the bills passed committee, and Stupak had less leverage, to engage with him. Or maybe Stupak was the obstacle or Kirkpatrick got it wrong or there were productive negotiations going on outside Pelosi's office.

In any event, this is a significant development. If Democrats devise a compromise that Stupak et all can live with, then they'll bring over the other pro-life Democrats -- and probably the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

(Photo by Gordon Waldman)

The "church" that became infamous for bringing their "God Hates Fags" signs to the funerals of people who died of AIDS and fallen soliders came to town this weekend. Westboro Baptist Church of Topkea picketed my old high school (Great Neck North) and then my former synagogue (Beth Elohim) as well as other houses of worship in New York.

They've broadened their message from God Hates Fags to God Hates Jews. They carry some more mainstream anti-abortion and anti-Obama signs so at first glance they can be mistaken for pro-life or Tea Party protesters. But it doesn't take long to see that Westboro is more akin to Aryan nation than the Southern Baptist Convention.

To the tune of the Beatles' Hey Jude, they sang (if I heard correctly), "Hey Jews, You Killed Our Lord", and shouted "Evil Retrobate Jews!" They carried signs saying "Fags are Beasts" and sang, "God Hates America!" It's hard to overstate how vile this group is.

Yet the amazing thing about this weekend's Westboro visit: it was downright festive. At least that was the case outside Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope. The crowd of 100 people (many there for a Bar Mitzvah) seemed to view the half-dozen Westboro protesters less as a threat than a joke. There was almost excitement that the youngins got to see this artifact of an earlier era.

The rabbi, Andrew Bachman, inspired the crowd by blowing the shofar, "in the name of the God of love." But the crowd especially roared when he added, "And in the name of the God of Groucho Marx, we put our thumb on our nose." He then led the crowd in a sort of modified Bronx cheer (photo below) In response to the God Hates Fags placards, one woman put a sign on her canine reading, "Dog Loves Fags."

The jovial posture was possible because of Westboro's small number. If there had been 100 of them, everyone would have felt more threatened. This reaction was just about the best possible. The Westboro folks get off on enraging the crowds. At Beth Elohim, they were treated like a circus freak show.

Here, in the photo below, Rabbi Bachman salutes the Westboro gang "in the name of the God of Groucho Marx"

When the Westboro protesters sang anti-semitic songs to the tune of Hava Nagilia, the crowd responded with the real thing: dancing the hora in a circle, while singing the actual Jewish folk song.

The one facet of the protest that no one could quite work up a sense of humor about was the presence of the young children in the Westboro group. They held signs and would occasionally shout along with the parents. Child abuse.

(Photo by Gordon Waldman)

I recently suggested that more people have died from lack of health insurance since 1994 (when Congress last defeated health care reform) than died during those years as a result of the first Gulf War, the Iraq War, the Afghanistan war, the 9/11 attacks, Hurrican Katrina and all of the nation's homicides-- combined.

Some have asked how it could be that lack of health insurance could so cause so many deaths. Here are some excerpts from one of the reports (from the Institute of Medicine) which gives a few examples of how this happens:

"Uninsured cancer patients generally have poorer outcomes and die sooner than persons with insurance. Without timely preventive screenings, diagnosis is de-layed. As a result, when cancer is found, it is relatively advanced and more often fatal than it is in persons with health insurance coverage. For example, uninsured women with breast cancer have a 30 to 50 percent higher risk of dying than women with private health insurance. Furthermore, once diagnosed, treatment disparities persist. For example, uninsured women are less likely to receive breast-conserving surgery...."

"Diabetes: Uninsured adults with diabetes are less likely than those insured to receive the professionally recommended standard of care for monitoring blood glu-cose levels and other complications. Uncontrolled blood glucose levels puts per-sons with diabetes at increased risk of hospitalization and additional complica-tions (e.g., heart and kidney disease) and disability (e.g., amputations and blind-ness). It is hard to imagine, but 25 percent of persons with diabetes go without a checkup for two years if they have been without health insurance for a year or more...."

"Acute Cardiovascular Disease: Uninsured patients with acute cardiovascular disease are:
• less likely to receive angiography or revascularization procedures,
• less likely to be admitted to a hospital that performs these diagnostic and treatment procedures, and
• more likely to die in the short term."

There are at least three studies from three organizations that have attempted to assess this question. They are:

American Journal of Public Health / Cambridge Health Alliance (45,000 deaths)

Institute of Medicine (18,000)

Urban Institute (22,000)

I will add studies as I get them -- including any scientific studies proving fatality levels related to national health care in other countries (I have not seen such studies yet).

A recent study in the Journal of American Public Health concluded that 45,000 people die each year for lack of health insurance. Another study in 2002, from the Institute of Medicine, put the number at 18,000. Still another, put it...

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I think I've finally figured out a way of pissing off both my pro-choice and pro-life readers in one post. Here goes. I believe that if one's goal is to get health care to reflect the status quo on abortion,...

Democratic health care proposals in the House and Senate included this novel provision: the new health care exchanges would be required to offer at least one plan that covers abortion and one that doesn't. Doesn't that sound even-handed? What I'm...

In his "chairman's mark" on health care reform, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus had rejected the pure pro-choice position -- he limited direct government funding for abortion -- but still included provisions that pro-lifers viewed as supporting abortion. Republicans...

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Are the Catholic Bishops splitting from the rest of the pro-life movement on health care and abortion? The Bishops have always been in a different category from most of the pro-life or religious conservative groups in this sense: but for...

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The health care proposal being floated by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus will be attacked or hailed for a variety of reasons. But I'll say this: based on what I've read so far, it may have solved the abortion...

Pray for Keith Mullins: Due to economy lost job. Which means lost health insurance also. This all happened appx. two months ago. Just diagnosed this week with cancer of both lungs and heart Add your prayers here....

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