Forkers Central

"The Bush administration recently proposed a radical federal regulation change that would allow doctors to knowingly withhold information from their patients about widely accepted medical treatment options like birth control, emergency contraception, and abortion services. Even worse, this new rule could allow individual health care providers to redefine abortion to include the most common forms of birth control — and then refuse to provide them.

"If you haven't had a chance yet, please take a moment right now to submit a comment to the Department of Health and Human Services during the official 30-day comment period — it ends September 25."
_____

Comment here if you're interested.

- Mere "will admit, I don't know all about this issue, but between Bush and PP, I side with PP" 1975

Thanks for the tip Mere. Those fuckers are always messing with my good times.

I'm on PP's mailing list now. think it was from my donation to a certain camp.


sure beats those Bush christmas cards I received for a couple years after sending a letter to a congressman on behalf of norml.

I'll take a look when I get home, but PP has kinda pissed me off before; the way they frame issues is often really misleading.

I'll take a look when I get home, but PP has kinda pissed me off before; the way they frame issues is often really misleading.

And Planned Parenthood's detractors are always so fair and balanced? Yes, PP has been known to use hyperbole, but then there really is only one "issue" - do women have the right to control their own reproduction or not?

Sy "I've already commented - twice" bil

I'll take a look when I get home, but PP has kinda pissed me off before; the way they frame issues is often really misleading.

And Planned Parenthood's detractors are always so fair and balanced? Yes, PP has been known to use hyperbole, but then there really is only one "issue" - do women have the right to control their own reproduction or not?

Sy "I've already commented - twice" bil

Um yeah, I didn't say "pro-lifers = good." But I don't like being mislead, even if it's "for a good cause." And just like I think we should hold the US to a higher standard than terrorist states, I hold the organizations that I support to a higher standard than the right wingers.
For me, whether I'm being given accurate information is an issue too.

Doctors can already refuse to provide birth control as far as I know... and they don't have to perform any elective procedure, such as an abortion. If your doctor won't provide birth control you can find another doctor... The real problem would be if every Medicaid doctor refused to provide birth control or something like that. Like if Medicaid would only pay for pro-life doctors. However, I don't know how in the hell they'd find these doctors. The doctor I worked with had a full ride to St. Louis University (VERY CATHOLIC) and will not perform abortions (for moral reasons) and is very religious. But she is very enthusiastic about birth control and IUDs and the guardisil vaccine. I'm sure some OB/GYNs exist that are against birth control, but not enough to make this a serious issue... at least, that's my perception. Maybe this would be a bigger problem in small towns where there's no choice of physicians.

If the doctor can choose and isn't forced into acting a certain way, I guess I don't really see the issue.

Sure the probable immediate ramifications don't look so bad, but it gets fucking scary if you look down the road. There is the potential to use this proposal to limit a woman’s access to healthcare and to impinge upon a woman’s ability to control her body’s reproductive capabilities. It also means that my government is trying to establish a legislative precedent for codifying such limitations by imposing controls on a specific class of individuals. This is the slippery slope! It pisses me off.

exactly! give them an inch and they WILL TAKE A MILE! at out expense. I won't stand for any of it. Of course your right to choose is just that your right, i don't care if someone choose to not take the big BC or have an abortion...because it's up to each person. however, if someone thinks that they can tell me how to live my life...then maybe all the men will be happy when all the women of the world just shut their legs...hmmm that'll teach them. If I can have what I want, they sure as hell can't have any either.

But you have to admit that BC and abortions are elective... and just as a doctor can refuse to perform a vasectomy or tie the tubes of a 20 year old girl, they can refuse to prescribe Yasmine. I don't agree with such a decision, but the doctor has the right to choose as much as the patient does. I know its a slippery slope, that's why I say I see it being a problem if medicaid suddenly becomes really keen on pro life doctors, but at the moment it's not so scary...

and also, i can in a way understand including birth control in the same category as abortion, because birth control can technically terminate a pregnancy...an egg can get fertilized and "miscarried" which would just show up as spotting or not even be known to the woman, but technically an egg got fertilized and then aborted... it is more common than you'd think. so to someone who considers that a sin or whatever, it is actually in the same vein. again, i don't agee, but that's the mentality. there is actually data to back it up...

Well, with any luck, come January this will all be moot. Of course, that may be small comfort to the poor teenaged girl living in a remote area of Alabama where the only doctor in town who accepts Medicaid has decided that IUDs and birth control pills offend his sense of morality. And God bless her if she's been raped by mama's boyfriend or drunk Uncle Malcolm, and is already pregnant.

Sybil

doctors who don't/won't give bc based on "personal beliefs" need to get their fucking head out of their ass and possibly choose a different profession.

what if i worked at a convenient store, and i would sell ALL the items in the store except alcohol because i was personally against drinking? um, i would get complained at and the manager would fire me. because i wasn't doing my job. doctors need to do their job and get off their high horses. doctors of all people should know the benefits of birth control pills, iuds, and the like.

but whatevs. just my opinion. don't wanna argue; just venting.

I do hate it when I got into the corner liquor store and there ain't no booze. there's actually a store I know of here in SF that's the case....it's against their religion so they don't sell it. bummer for me and the rest of the booze drinking, free sexin', wild people of SF.

i got a funny message from someone saying to send donations to planned parenthood in sarah palin's name. i can repost here if anyone's interested. but i thought it was awesome.

i got a funny message from someone saying to send donations to planned parenthood in sarah palin's name. i can repost here if anyone's interested. but i thought it was awesome.

Yup -- my friend Farrell posted it on facebook too:

Dear Friends:

We may have thought we wanted a woman on a national political ticket, but the
joke has really been on us, hasn't it? Are you as sick in your stomach as I
am at the thought of Sarah Palin as Vice President of the United States?

Since Palin gave her speech accepting the Republican nomination for the Vice
Presidency, Barack Obama's campaign has raised over $10 million dollars.
Some of you may already be supporting the Obama campaign financially; others of
you may still be recovering from the primaries. None of you, however, can be
happy with Palin's selection, especially on her positions on women's
issues.

So, if you feel you can't support the Obama campaign financially, may I
suggest the following fiendishly brilliant alternative?

Make a donation to Planned Parenthood. In Sarah Palin's name. A Planned
Parenthood donation is tax deductible, while a political donation isn't.

And here's the good part: when you make a donation to PP in her name,
they'll send her a card telling her that the donation has been made in her
honor.
Here's the link to the Planned Parenthood website:
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/ go to donate, then honorary gifts
You'll need to fill in the address to let PP know where to send the
"in Sarah Palin's honor" card. I suggest you use the address for
the McCain campaign headquarters:

McCain for President
1235 S. Clark Street
1st Floor
Arlington , VA 22202

Feel free to send this along to all your women friends as well as your men
friends and urge them to do the same.

- Mere "awesome" 1975