I recently watched this intriguing video on health care reform (via CrissWrites.com) which raises the question: Is health care a privilege or a right in this country?
If health care is a right, like the right to free speech or the right to bring a loaded firearm to a presidential town hall, then doesn’t the government have an obligation to help every American get access to quality, affordable health care?
If it is a right, is the government obligated to guarantee quality health care for every citizen?
I think so.
There is no reason why an American should die because she cannot afford quality health care, whether that’s a Pap smear, seizure medication, chemotherapy or prenatal care.
On Friday, First Lady Michelle Obama eloquently made the case that health care is a woman’s issue. She’s right, of course. The health care sob stories always seem to be about women: someone with MS who can no longer work and is about to lose her house because she can’t pay the mortgage; a woman with breast cancer who is facing bankruptcy despite working full-time and having insurance; a woman who works two jobs and simply cannot afford insurance.
Sometimes I wonder whether we would still be debating the need for universal health care at all if these stories were about fifty-year-old (white) men not being able to afford their cholesterol medicine.
Or Viagra.
I'm Danine Spencer and I am (in no particular order) a writer, blogger, feminist, disability rights advocate, political nerd, techie, dog-lover and Diet Coke addict. Please click on the
Right, because Viagra is covered under most plans but birth control is not. Totally logical! And the fact that “being a woman” seems to be a pre-existing condition just makes my blood boil.
Oh, that Viagra vs. birth control thing drives me up the freakin’ wall. Absolutely up the freakin’ wall. WHY don’t male politicians understand the importance of women’s reproductive health and family planning? Forget women’s health. It’s an economic and political thing. Women without access to birth control (or the knowledge to use it) both here and abroad are more likely to have more children, leading to poverty, greater use of government resources, etc, etc, etc.
Family planning is not just about abortion, people!!!
OK, rant over. Thank you for indulging me.
I’m torn on the whole health care issue, and since it is relatively controversial, you don’t see me posting too much about it. I totally think that the health care system NEEDS reform, badly. Especially for women. But I know, also, from talking to my future brother-in-law who is currently in med school, that the current reform being posed may seriously hurt doctors’ jobs.
I don’t know too much about either side, so I won’t say much more. I just wanted to share that I don’t know.
Oh, Ashley, I <3 you!
I had a longer response to this, but decided to keep it light and just say, “Thanks for sharing.”
So, “Thanks for sharing.”
