thesquanderer (366 posts) Sun Nov-08-09 06:53 AM
Original message
Why I'm okay with the abortion restriction
First, I'm pro-choice.
And yes, I bet I'm about to make yet another unpopular post, but consider this...
--- the abortion restrictions were probably necessary to get passage of the bill
--- in exchange for giving up insurance coverage for abortion procedures which typically run in the hundreds of dollars, many people will now be able to get coverage for the many, many medical procedures that can run into the thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars. I'm talking about people who could not afford insurance before, as well as people who could not get insurance at any price due to pre-existing conditions.
The biggest boon of the health care overhaul is that people will be able to get medical services they would otherwise not be able to afford. Abortion is *relatively* affordable. Unlike many medical procedures, most people could manage to afford one without bankrupting themselves or putting themselves into massive debt. An abortion is typically less than the cost of a year's car insurance (well, at least in New York), and not much more than the cost of a television. So the need for insurance to cover the cost is not tremendous, relatively speaking, from a financial burden point of view.
Yes, of course, there are poor people for whom even the hundreds of dollars needed for an abortion is unaffordable. And there can be solutions for that, as there are clinics today, and pro-choice organizations can raise money to help pay for abortions for people who can't afford them. Remember that while the bill is greatly impacting the ability to get abortions covered under any insurance, abortions will still be available. And the people who can't afford the hundreds of dollars for an abortion today also can't afford insurance today, so they're not losing anything here. Giving them access to insurance that doesn't cover abortion is far better than what they have now, no insurance at all. Sure, I'd rather they had abortions covered, but that "missing" coverage is actually relatively small, compared to what they will be getting. And the poor will certainly be far better off, able to go to the doctor at the first sign of trouble, instead of avoiding the possible expense and hoping the problem goes away, a common situation that often later lands people in the emergency room too. So the poor are still better off with this plan, and the non-poor can reasonably afford abortions anyway.
Obviously, there are many "imperfections" in the health care plan, this is just one of them. But if this is what it took to get the bill passed, I don't think it was the most terrible price to pay. I understand that just mentioning the word "abortion" is an emotional trigger for many people (on both sides), but pragmatically, looking at the overall balance of burdens and benefits, I don't think this is so awful a compromise.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=6959731&mesg_id=6959731Horse with no Name Sun Nov-08-09 06:58 AM
Response to Original message
5. Good. I am okay with cutting your ****ing testicles off
So I can easier control it.
I want to preemptively make sure that you never generate an unwanted pregnancy for a woman that is losing rights to her own body.
How does that settle with you?
As if there were any doubt. If you were to ask a DUmbass how much taxpayer money they'd be willing to commit to ensure that abortions would be completely free of charge, of course they'd say, "Any amount of money. Any," but now we know we who actually pay taxes would have had to pay about $1.5 trillion over 10 years for the divine right of Strumpet Sally to get her uterus vacuumed out a few times a year.
Luckily, so far at least we don't have to worry that we're creating even more incentives for women to use my money to whore around.
The only way I'd be OK with free abortions is if after the first one, they reach inside and yank out her tubes. No repeat business.
Once again, I restate my position on abortion:
Rights are things that you don't need to get from anyone else. If abortion is a right, then that means you shouldn't have to get one from anyone else, rather, you should get it from yourself, with a wire hanger and a bottle of gin, and let the chips fall where they may.
