Tell Congress that the American people need a strong public health insurance option NOW. (202) 224-3121.

Warning: Health Care Reform Should Not Be the Circus Anti-Choice Extremists Are Trying to Turn it Into

During a health care rally at the University of Maryland, a man took it upon himself to interrupt the president while he was attempting to speak to the crowd about health care reform and shout “Obama you’re a liar. Obama, your health care kills children. Abortion is murder.”

Every day there are around five stories like this–People heckling politicians who are trying to facilitate real and genuine conversations about a topic that a lot of people still don’t know about or understand the specifics of and completely throwing the entire event off course and stealing the time away from people who go to these rallies to learn, to engage in respectful (to the facilitator as well as their fellow rally-goers) conversation and who support the right for every American citizen to obtain adequate health care. As I’ve already stated, the right has an agenda and that is to interject themselves into each and every health care reform discussion and spread the delusion that all health care reform will do is create “death panels” and set out to kill your grandmother and force every tax-paying citizen to pay for the abortions of every fertile woman in the country. These ideas, of course, as completely blown out of proportion, especially considering that in case anyone wasn’t adequately educated about the history of reproductive rights, abortion is legal. You know, just in case the people on the right who feel it is their duty to crash health care rallies didn’t know or forgot this fact.

Health care reform is not something to be taken lightly. It is not the circus that the right is determined to turn it into. Health care reform would save people’s lives and it would greatly improve the lives of those citizens who are currently plagued by illness and by pain every day of their lives. Health care reform is about people, not about your fucking political agenda or the twisted delusions that you’re being fed by those who see no need for health care reform because they already have access to health care.

American Life League Uses the Death of Senator Ted Kennedy to Take Down Health Care Reform

[Photo source Lauren Miller]

The photo above was taken during the much talked about 9/12 rally in DC this past weekend. We have seen a great deal of hatred coming from those opposed to health care reform Barack Obama and the 9/12 rally just wouldn’t be everything we thought it would be without some gravely distasteful and downright hateful signage. Like the one above.

But this isn’t just your average homemade sign-o-hate (like the sign being held by the man standing behind him,) this is a special sign that does its best to hit us health care reform activists where it is still mourning and specially made and paid for by the anti-choice group American Life League. I, for one, have come to expect nothing more from these people who have proven again and again that they merely cannot have an opinion or work to spread the word about that opinion; no, they must have their opinion backed by often racist, sexist, misogynist, nonfactual, purposely hurtful, shameful and harmful images and/or wordage. We know that the American Life League knows no better, but to use the passing of Senator Ted Kennedy, a man who dedicated his career to helping each and every person in this country obtain the health care that they deserve as citizens of a civilized country, to try to defeat health care reform is despicable. It blatantly disrespects the late Senator as well as his family, loved ones, as well as every American citizen who had worked with Senator Ted Kennedy and continues to work towards a universal health care or public option to be made available for citizens unable to obtain adequate health care.

But the American Life League did not just make these signs available for people to carry during the 9/12 rally; no, they are also selling the signs on their website.

Anti-choice extremism has interjected itself into the health care reform debate and you would think that Sarah Palin herself wrote the bullet points that the anti-choice extremists are attempting to capitalize on; according to anti-choicers against health care reform, health care reform is broken down into two points–death panels and taxpayer-funded abortion; both of which have been brought up to state legislatures as well as to the president himself and both of which have been said would not be part of health care reform. However, we also know that these are the only two points that anti-choicers have to pull out of their back pockets at a moment’s notice.

Don’t let the American Life League and its lemmings be the only voice of health care reform. Contact your members in Congress today, tell them that it’s about time that anti-choice extremism does not intimidate such important legislature that could save lives.

Update:

Here is a clip of the sign on Rachel Maddow (starts at 3:20)

Who else isn’t surprised that the American Life League refuses to defend their own sign?

h/t Blog for Choice

The Late Liberal Lion and Healthcare Champion, Senator Ted Kennedy

The morning of August 26, 2009, news broke that Senator Ted Kennedy had died after a long battle against brain cancer. The loss of the “Liberal Lion” is a great one; we have surely lost one of the good guys–and he was one of the few we had left to begin with. However, while we have surely lost a progressive voice, it is important to recognize and celebrate all that he has accomplished while proudly serving this country and to continue the fights left unfinished that he dedicated his life to.

Senator Ted Kennedy proudly served his country, but he served each and every single person within it, which is something that not many politicians can have on their resume. He truly looked at the people of this country with a nondiscriminatory lens and fought to reverse the injustices that his fellow humans encountered daily. He was a strong supporter of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and later authored amendments strengthening enforcement of key provisions of the Act. He played a central role in fighting discrimination in both the Age Discrimination Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. In 1994, he was the original Senate lead on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, in 1996 he voted against the Defense of Marriage Act, leading opposition to a federal marriage amendment and opposed an anti-marriage measure in Massachusetts, and in 1997, he was the original sponsor of hate crimes legislation. Senator Kennedy also fought to end the funding of abstinence-only education programs, increased funding for HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment and was an outspoken supporter for the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.

But what Senator Kennedy is most known for and what he devoted his career to is ensuring that each and every American citizen has the right to affordable health care. He first introduced a bill calling for universal health care coverage in 1970 and over the next four decades, he never ceased in his efforts to make his bill a reality for all Americans without adequate access to health care they need. This past summer Senator Kennedy wrote an essay on the need for universal, affordable health care services, appropriately titled ‘The Cause of My Life.’

It is a key reason that I defied my illness last summer to speak at the Democratic convention in Denver — to support Barack Obama, but also to make sure, as I said, “that we will break the old gridlock and guarantee that every American…will have decent, quality health care as a fundamental right and not just a privilege.” For four decades I have carried this cause — from the floor of the United States Senate to every part of this country. It has never been merely a question of policy; it goes to the heart of my belief in a just society. Now the issue has more meaning for me — and more urgency — than ever before. But it’s always been deeply personal, because the importance of health care has been a recurrent lesson throughout most of my 77 years.

Health care reform is about people, which I have recently written about here entitled with the same sentiment and explaining my own horrific story with the health care industry and my inability to receive the health care I desperately need because of my lack of finances and no one willing to help in sight. As I also wrote in that post–This country will inevitably always be comprised of the have’s and the have not’s, but access to health care that people so desperately need should never be lumped into those categories. Senator Kennedy felt the same way and fought throughout his career in hopes of people like me and people like you being able to receive the health care that we not just need, but that we deserve.

Health Care Reform is About People

Updates on Menstrual Poetry have pretty much come to a standstill over the past month. This has happened a few times over the past two years that I have been blogging here, but never quite to this degree. My life pretty much revolves around my online projects–and I have a lot of them–so while I try to spend as much time as possible online, treating my computer as more of a lifeline than anything else, even beating out coffee, that just has not been possible over this past month or so.

As some of you who speak to me on a frequent and personal level may know that I have a dental condition called Periodontal Disease that has given me a great deal of problems. Over the past few years however, my dental condition has worsened and of course, my wisdom teeth have decided that now would be the perfect time to sprout up. Apparently they did not receive the memo that I already have crowded teeth because my mouth has already produced too many teeth to fit so there is no way four additional, massive teeth are going to fit in there. But up they sprouted anyway. My wisdom teeth have been making their way into my mouth, desperate to be my best friends, for over two years now and throughout the entire time, I have spoken, saw, consulted with, and have downright pleaded with dentists to do something to help me, but to no avail. These past few years have been hell for me because my dental condition has continued to worsen, my teeth are beginning to decay regardless of how well I take care of them, and my wisdom teeth (that are coming in already pre-decayed for me) are causing me to be in constant, unrelenting pain. They are forcing pressure against all of the teeth in my mouth, causing my mouth and face to swell up and is also the source of a constant migraine headache. The pressure they are putting on my head has gotten so bad that I have woken up several times barely being able to hear and I woke up just this morning with what I am assuming is an ear infection from hell and a swollen throat.

I hardly get any good sleep where I actually wake up rested; often I wake up after 15 hours of sleeping and I am still tired. But I know that it is not me being tired, it is me being in so much pain that the only thing that my body will do is shut down.

So why, in over two years, have I not had these teeth pulled? Why am I blogging about mind-numbing pain instead of getting something done about it?

I don’t have insurance. No dental insurance, which would have helped with preventative dental work so I wouldn’t be in this position right now. No health insurance, which is what I am in need of now that my dental condition has become so bad that it is directly affecting my health. And because I don’t have insurance, I do not matter.

Dentists are only willing to do work if they know that they are getting paid, so when you call a dentist’s office to inquire about sliding scale fee options or payment plans and realize the kind of money you need in order to even get started on the process is more money than you have seen in quite a while–combined–well then you have a problem. When it comes to the uninsured, money is always the problem. Hell, money is quite often just a problem–to those who don’t have boatloads of it. While on my quest to get the dental work I need done, I have applied for medical assistance–and was promptly denied. I am still flabbergasted as to how I could be denied since my income is hilarious! Nevertheless, I have been wafting in a sea of denial and have realized that there is way too much wiggle room in the system for people, like me, who get denied for medical assistance yet can only dream of being able to afford private health insurance; especially if you work from home, like I do.

Everywhere you look in the media right now you are hearing about health care reform. Right wing extremists have dubbed it “Obamacare” and Republicans have been doing all they can to knock a public option for health care off the table. The message of their efforts is simple–All people do not deserve the right to a healthy life; just the privileged people who can afford it do. This belief has never sat very well with me. As Americans we are told that we must love our country; that we must stand by our country, fight for our country, and die for our country if we must–and we should be proud to do it. So why is it incomprehensible to think that our country should ensure that we are a healthy nation? The health care reform legislation is not trying to change anyone’s existent health insurance programs, it is merely giving people like me, who cannot afford private health insurance yet are denied for medical assistance by their state, a chance at a healthy life. It seems ludicrous to me to discriminate against people who are ill and who are low income, yet the government is allowing that discrimination to occur within the Republican and “Blue Dog” affiliations. This country will inevitably always be comprised of the have’s and the have not’s, but access to health care that people so desperately need should never be lumped into those categories. Health care reform is about people. It isn’t politics; it is something that will make it easier for people to get the care that they need in order to live. And I can attest first hand that living in pain and living with a condition that no one can or wants to help you with is not living, it is existing and barely at that.

As for me, I have finally found a sliding scale clinic that gave me a consultation for the dental work that I need done. They also gave me a referral to an oral surgeon who, of course, does not have a sliding scale option and I’m just going to assume, not very fond of the poor people. On August 25 I will go in for yet another consultation, this time with the oral surgeon to schedule getting five teeth extracted–all 4 wisdom teeth and another tooth that has pretty much decayed and that has been giving me many problems, including not being able to put anything remotely cold into my mouth because it makes it feel like my entire mouth is being attacked by super tiny ninjas with huge, sharp swords.

I am making a tremendous effort to stay up to date with all of my online projects and work that I do but if I go missing for a few days, you now know why. You can also follow me on Twitter because I tend to update that when I have a few seconds to spare and something witty to say or need to get something off my chest. Sometimes I’m entertaining.

Mexican City Government Launches Free HPV Vaccination Campaign

The Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is one of the major causes of cervical cancer. It infects 20% of men and women in Latin America and as explained by Nubia Muñoz Calero, Columbian pathologist and physician, a member of the committee of scientists in charge of supervising the HPV vaccine Gardasil’s clinic trials, and nominee of the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine 2008, there is an 80% change of getting infected with HPV over one’s lifespan.

Because of the tremendous risk of being infected with HPV and going on to fighting a battle with cervical cancer, the Mexican City government has launched a free Human Papilloma Virus vaccination campaign to reduce cervical cancer rates. The announcement came after Panama launched a national free HPV vaccination campaign last October. The Mexican government then launched the Programa de Acción Específico de Cáncer Cérvico Uternino 2007-2012 (Specific Action Program on Cervical Cancer 2007-2012), a comprehensive plan aimed “to reduce the mortality and morbidity rates through the provision of excellent services for the promotion, prevention, detection, diagnosis, treatment and suffering control, as well as the responsible participation of the population on health care.” Last December, thousands of girls received the first dose of the vaccine, as well as a short information session including topics on sexuality and documentation related to gender violence.

The vaccination will cover the capital city and will be provided to about 35,000 girls between 11 and 13 years old, in all health care centers of Mexico City. The reason why this vaccine is being given to girls, rather than already sexually active women, is because in order for the vaccine to have the most effect and to have better results, it should be administered to someone before they are sexually active, as HPV is a sexually transmitted infection.

The HPV vaccine has been sold in Mexico since 2006; however, it was only provided by the private health centers at a very high cost of $600 USD. The HPV vaccine is one of the most costly vaccines worldwide and for the implementation of the Mexican campaign, the government has allocated about $10 million.

It’s great to see that Mexico is making the HPV vaccine readily available to girls at no cost; this is especially beneficial to low income girls who could have never received the vaccine otherwise. Cervical cancer is the most common form of cancer among Mexican women and according to a report [PDF] from the HPV Information Center, approximately 5,775 Mexican women die every year from cervical cancer and has the highest mortality rate of any cancer affecting women in Mexico. It’s fantastic to see that the Mexican government is using their money to ensure a happy and fulfilling future for the girls of Mexico who could have very well become cervical cancer statistics.

I Never Liked that Vase Anyway

Every month I look forward to reading the ‘Boo Ya It’s Period Time’ posts over at Womanist Musings. They always fill me with an overwhelmingly sense of pride in my femininity. They remind me of why I am a vagina-loving, menstruation-loving feminist. They remind me of how beautiful yet complex our bodies are. Most of all, they remind me of what I wish I could feel like approximately four days before my period begins.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a body-loving, vagina-loving, menstruation-loving feminist. During menstruation, I feel, as cliche as it might sound, more connected to my world. I use reusable menstrual pads from Lunapads in part because of the environmental impact (did you know that the average woman will use approximately 11,000 tampons or pads in their lifetime?) and also in part because I enjoy washing my pads in my bathtub, by hand. My “problem” has nothing to do with menstruation, itself; in fact, menstruation is my relief, the end of this little condition called PMDD (or Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder.)

Now many different websites will give you a list of medical jargon and numerous different symptoms of this disorder, but the best way to explain it, for me at least, is that it is depression mixed with the deepest anger you have ever experienced in your life for any reason, times at the very least, by 500. But in case you’re one of those text book definition folks, you can read about it here.

There are many people who will start screaming ’sexism’ when a male mentions his girlfriend, wife, friends, whatever, having PMS, and I am also one of these people. To have PMS and to be asked by a male if you have PMS because you’re acting a little hot-headed are two completely different things.

Throughout my life I have had a terrible anger problem, due to the fact that I am a survivor of childhood trauma and multiple cases of sexual assault. Through all of the years I have been menstruating, I had chalked my explosive temper up to that anger problem; however, merely an anger problem does not involve physical aches and pains, lightning fast mood swings, and admittedly, making a huge deal out of something that really wasn’t that big of a deal to begin with, whether in my relationship, work life, or personal life. Through the past year, year and a half, I have been researching these symptoms and speaking with a close friend of mine who has repeatedly told me about her own personal problems with these exact symptoms–And how as soon as the first drop of menstrual blood oozes, all of these symptoms are gone; vanished and gone until the next month.

And that is the reason why the vase that had been sitting on my desk for the past two years or so, is now in about 50 or so pieces, in the trash. It is June 5th and in approximately 3 to 4 days, that first drop of menstrual blood will ooze, which is the reason why a vase is broken when a book was thrown at it, knocking over a coffee cup and spilling the entire cup of liquid all over my desk and onto my office chair. And while yes, in hindsight a vase is broken and my chair is soaked, forcing me to hijack the boyfriend’s chair and hope he doesn’t wake up so I am chair-less, it felt damn good to do at the time and for the time being, my anger has subsided.

While I may be inclined to follow suit with Womanist Musings and write a Boo Ya It’s Period Time post, when I will most definitely be ecstatic to break out the pads and finally feel at ease, for right now, I’m in hell and it fucking sucks.