This is never a popular subject, and it is a subject our nation usually avoids really talking about. But, I have felt compelled to write about it as the subject of abortion has presented itself many times over the last couple of weeks within the news. This particular subject is pretty much THE subject that divides the political parties. The Republican Party is the one that took this issue and shoved it into the political lime light decades ago, and has ridden on the coat tails of the issue ever since. In turn, they have been able to brand themselves as the party with the highest morals, upholding the teachings from the Bible. Never mind that they pick and choose things from the Bible that fit their own political agenda…otherwise, what was Noah’s Ark about if God is truly Pro-Life? I could go through a litany of things to shed light on the hypocrisy of the church and their true torturous history. But, this issue is no more a political issue than it is a religious one. The issue comes down to if a woman has a RIGHT to an abortion.
Of coarse a woman has a right to choose, and she can help make that choice with the help of her own religious beliefs. The Republican Party likes the idea of small government and for government to stay out of the personal lives of citizens. Well, how much bigger can a government get then when it makes a medical decision for a woman based solely on a politicians personal religious beliefs? What if our government had a Jehovah Witness majority? Jehovah Witnesses do not believe in blood transfusions. Would we then be faced with the closing of blood banks, touting that it is immoral and that citizens should have that right taken away? We have the right to choose if we want blood transfusions, just have we have the right to reject it if it conflicts with a personal belief. We simply have the right to choose!!
Many years ago, I was confronted with the choice of abortion. I found out that I was pregnant during my first year of college. I am thankful that I had the right to choose what was best for me and for my future, and that the decision was my right to make! I decided not to abort based on my own personal beliefs and knowing that that was not a decision that I could ever live with. But, women are faced with this choice everyday! The decision, I can assure you, is not a flippant decision. There are women that are in highly abusive relationships/marriages, women that are raped, women that are in their 50’s or older, girls that are 15 and younger, women that have jobs that don’t offer medical insurance or don’t offer paid leaves of absence coupled with little to no familial help, women that find themselves in poor health or their unborn child is incapable of living outside of the womb. All of these different faces to this issue are the reason there should be a choice. It is simply a woman’s right! Just because women have the right, doesn’t mean that they will choose to have an abortion. It just simply means woman have the right to choose.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Twas the Night of Health Care Voting
I received a very right-wing e-mail today using "The Night Before Christmas" theme. It was about Democrats standing in the way of prayer in schools and having no morals. It inspired me to write my own "Night Before Christmas" theme. So, here goes...
Twas the night of health care voting, and all through the house,
The majority members cheered with one minority mouse.
The Party of No, just simply didn't care,
Hoarding their gov. insurance and not wanting to share!
Americans nestled all snug in their bed,
With visions of health care and not being dead!!
Feeling safe that the leaders would fill the coverage gap,
And not let the Extremist treat them like crap!
When the next day on TV arose such a clatter,
Fox News reported sorrow on the bill passage matter.
And said the poor insurance was not to bash,
they only wanted a huge, chunk of our cash!
Republicans have grown angry and yell loudly, "NO!"
For reasons not known...I think maybe they're slow!
For why are they consumed with all of this fear,
Except their lobbyist money might soon disappear.
The Republican remedy is to "just not get sick!"
But with H1N1, that can't be the trick.
Reform is the answer and not the blame.
The Republicans must surly be all insane!
"Now Beck, now Limbaugh, now Hannity and Palin,"
Stop all the non-sense and the annoying loud waylin'.
Americans want reform and enough of this brawl.
If you offer no solution, then give no more stall!
The senate must pass reform and not die,
But if it is blocked then me-O-my!
Party of No will become less than few,
But one thing's for sure, we'll not hear their spew!
Americans are ready for common sense proof,
That the leaders care and not offer their spoof.
Hijacking Jesus makes one dumbfound,
For he would give health care for all around!
Enough of the bake sales for children with cancer!
Affordable health care is the ONLY answer!
True reform is now here, and muffling strife.
So, health care to all, and to all a good life!
--Share with others and spread the "good cheer!"
Twas the night of health care voting, and all through the house,
The majority members cheered with one minority mouse.
The Party of No, just simply didn't care,
Hoarding their gov. insurance and not wanting to share!
Americans nestled all snug in their bed,
With visions of health care and not being dead!!
Feeling safe that the leaders would fill the coverage gap,
And not let the Extremist treat them like crap!
When the next day on TV arose such a clatter,
Fox News reported sorrow on the bill passage matter.
And said the poor insurance was not to bash,
they only wanted a huge, chunk of our cash!
Republicans have grown angry and yell loudly, "NO!"
For reasons not known...I think maybe they're slow!
For why are they consumed with all of this fear,
Except their lobbyist money might soon disappear.
The Republican remedy is to "just not get sick!"
But with H1N1, that can't be the trick.
Reform is the answer and not the blame.
The Republicans must surly be all insane!
"Now Beck, now Limbaugh, now Hannity and Palin,"
Stop all the non-sense and the annoying loud waylin'.
Americans want reform and enough of this brawl.
If you offer no solution, then give no more stall!
The senate must pass reform and not die,
But if it is blocked then me-O-my!
Party of No will become less than few,
But one thing's for sure, we'll not hear their spew!
Americans are ready for common sense proof,
That the leaders care and not offer their spoof.
Hijacking Jesus makes one dumbfound,
For he would give health care for all around!
Enough of the bake sales for children with cancer!
Affordable health care is the ONLY answer!
True reform is now here, and muffling strife.
So, health care to all, and to all a good life!
--Share with others and spread the "good cheer!"
Monday, November 9, 2009
Uncovering More Truth in the Great Health Care Debate!
An acquaintance of mine expressed her disgust with Saturday's house health care bill passage. She expressed her bitterness at "socialized medicine" and a future "Utopian/Socialized" nation upon the horizon at this "liberal" pace. I, of coarse, had different feelings on the subject, as I feel this was a huge victory for our nation! Never have we come so close to really reforming health care, and I feel that we are finally making steps in the correct direction! I reminded her that our nation has literally hundreds of "socialized" programs that nobody bats an eye at. The government currently funds such things as our highways, education, the military, police force, fire departments, food and safety standards, work force safety standards, and so on. She quickly responded with,
"...The government run health programs that are already in place are bankrupt, non efficient and riddled with corruption and fraud. And just in case you think government run health care is the way to go, hang out at Ben Taub, Parkland or any other county run hospital for a day and tell me how you like that."
At this response, I really started thinking. This must be what the right-wing really thinks! My, how misinformed so many Americans really are! First, let me start by saying that the government is in no way, shape, or form taking over hospitals. The government is simply trying to pass a bill with the Public Option. This would mean they are trying to get into the health care insurance business, which by the way, they are already in. Certain sectors of society already receive and enjoy the benefits of government insurance such as the VA and the elderly. And, the same people that are repeatedly debating against, voting against, and smearing the current health care bill that just passed the house, are the same people who currently enjoy government health insurance. If government insurance really is corrupt and paving the way to the "Hitler dream," why aren't our congress and other federally employed men and women, abandoning their own current government health insurance programs, and signing on with the supposedly "wonderful" private insurance programs? It's almost like, "do as I say, not as I do" sort of mentality.
Because profit, and gross profits with little to no regulation at that, create greed, there is absolutely no incentive for the private insurance companies to come back down to reasonable ground. The Public Option, along with setting up new rules such as destroying pre-existing conditions, is the only thing that is going to tie the greedy little hands of private insurance companies. For-profit insurance companies are in no way, shape, or form looking out for their customers, because they are expendable. Full-profit insurance companies are only looking out for their pockets. Which brings me to my second point.
Just for kicks, and to point out the obvious to my acquaintance who brought up county run hospitals, I researched nationally ranked hospitals in the United States to see where some of the for-profit and non-profit hospitals ranked. The #1 hospital in the country is Johns Hopkins, a non-profit hospital. The #2 hospital was the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN...a non-profit hospital. Actually out of the top 20 hospitals listed, not one was a for-profit hospital! Being that I live in the Houston area, and the largest medical center is rooted here, I found it sort of astonishing that not one Houston hospital was listed in the top 10 hospitals in the US. When Houston is finally listed, it is Methodist Hospital at #20....and guess what? It too is a non-profit hospital! What I found the most interesting is that Barnes-Jewish Hospital, which is a county hospital, was ranked at #9! Interesting that a county run hospital out ranks every for-profit hospital in the United States!
The facts are simply not with the voices from the right! The one thing they cling to, is their fear, and they are on a campaign to spread it! The voices of reason are armed with facts, and we need to be on a campaign to spread it!
"...The government run health programs that are already in place are bankrupt, non efficient and riddled with corruption and fraud. And just in case you think government run health care is the way to go, hang out at Ben Taub, Parkland or any other county run hospital for a day and tell me how you like that."
At this response, I really started thinking. This must be what the right-wing really thinks! My, how misinformed so many Americans really are! First, let me start by saying that the government is in no way, shape, or form taking over hospitals. The government is simply trying to pass a bill with the Public Option. This would mean they are trying to get into the health care insurance business, which by the way, they are already in. Certain sectors of society already receive and enjoy the benefits of government insurance such as the VA and the elderly. And, the same people that are repeatedly debating against, voting against, and smearing the current health care bill that just passed the house, are the same people who currently enjoy government health insurance. If government insurance really is corrupt and paving the way to the "Hitler dream," why aren't our congress and other federally employed men and women, abandoning their own current government health insurance programs, and signing on with the supposedly "wonderful" private insurance programs? It's almost like, "do as I say, not as I do" sort of mentality.
Because profit, and gross profits with little to no regulation at that, create greed, there is absolutely no incentive for the private insurance companies to come back down to reasonable ground. The Public Option, along with setting up new rules such as destroying pre-existing conditions, is the only thing that is going to tie the greedy little hands of private insurance companies. For-profit insurance companies are in no way, shape, or form looking out for their customers, because they are expendable. Full-profit insurance companies are only looking out for their pockets. Which brings me to my second point.
Just for kicks, and to point out the obvious to my acquaintance who brought up county run hospitals, I researched nationally ranked hospitals in the United States to see where some of the for-profit and non-profit hospitals ranked. The #1 hospital in the country is Johns Hopkins, a non-profit hospital. The #2 hospital was the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN...a non-profit hospital. Actually out of the top 20 hospitals listed, not one was a for-profit hospital! Being that I live in the Houston area, and the largest medical center is rooted here, I found it sort of astonishing that not one Houston hospital was listed in the top 10 hospitals in the US. When Houston is finally listed, it is Methodist Hospital at #20....and guess what? It too is a non-profit hospital! What I found the most interesting is that Barnes-Jewish Hospital, which is a county hospital, was ranked at #9! Interesting that a county run hospital out ranks every for-profit hospital in the United States!
The facts are simply not with the voices from the right! The one thing they cling to, is their fear, and they are on a campaign to spread it! The voices of reason are armed with facts, and we need to be on a campaign to spread it!
Friday, November 6, 2009
Socialized Education
A friend of mine wrote this, and I thought it was very interesting!
Americans are really great, loving, forbearing and giving. They are also short-sighted, opinionated, naive and shallow. The point is that Americans, though well-intentioned, generally miss the point. The REASON that people come out of institutions of higher learning deeply in debt is that the entire, and I mean ENTIRE, certification and practical application(s) of the certification process are deeply flawed. If the training of youth to meet the challenges and responsibilities of the future are so essential to the public welfare and success of the nation, then the challenges and responsibilities for their thorough education to meet those needs SHOULD be met by the nation.
Socialism be damned! At the VERY LEAST, the bachelor's degree and/or practical trades training to the journeyman level should be accepted and paid by the nation for every man woman and child. If it requires the taxation of the citizenry to pay for the advancement of American society to the next level, then so be it. The rewards for REALLY leaving no child behind would be HUGE!
Americans need to recognize that the stratification of the United States is effectively destroying it. By guaranteeing a life of indebtedness for our children and by guaranteeing that potentially brilliant minds ARE being left behind and unused, the nation takes VERY careful aim and shoots itself in the foot. Assigning a label of socialism to advanced public education, with all of the unsubstantiated fears that go along with it, we do nothing more than ensure that the stratification of wealth and the suppression of advancement continues.
Who stands to gain wealth from a thoroughly indebted and uneducated populace? Who stands to gain power from that same scenario? If you are going to school to learn how to steal and keep others under your thumb while schmoozing with the elite then you are. If you are going to school to learn how to advance not only yourself but the nation and world around you, then ALL should be allowed the same opportunities without facing fiscal slavery for the rest of your lives. Political posturing and stonewalling need to be overcome thoroughly, the next level certification process needs to be completely revamped and IGNORANCE, reinforced by suppression and greed needs to be vilified. The United States is a democratic republic with SOCIAL needs! Our forefathers recognized and accepted it. Why can't we???
--author, Kaysie Markwardt
Americans are really great, loving, forbearing and giving. They are also short-sighted, opinionated, naive and shallow. The point is that Americans, though well-intentioned, generally miss the point. The REASON that people come out of institutions of higher learning deeply in debt is that the entire, and I mean ENTIRE, certification and practical application(s) of the certification process are deeply flawed. If the training of youth to meet the challenges and responsibilities of the future are so essential to the public welfare and success of the nation, then the challenges and responsibilities for their thorough education to meet those needs SHOULD be met by the nation.
Socialism be damned! At the VERY LEAST, the bachelor's degree and/or practical trades training to the journeyman level should be accepted and paid by the nation for every man woman and child. If it requires the taxation of the citizenry to pay for the advancement of American society to the next level, then so be it. The rewards for REALLY leaving no child behind would be HUGE!
Americans need to recognize that the stratification of the United States is effectively destroying it. By guaranteeing a life of indebtedness for our children and by guaranteeing that potentially brilliant minds ARE being left behind and unused, the nation takes VERY careful aim and shoots itself in the foot. Assigning a label of socialism to advanced public education, with all of the unsubstantiated fears that go along with it, we do nothing more than ensure that the stratification of wealth and the suppression of advancement continues.
Who stands to gain wealth from a thoroughly indebted and uneducated populace? Who stands to gain power from that same scenario? If you are going to school to learn how to steal and keep others under your thumb while schmoozing with the elite then you are. If you are going to school to learn how to advance not only yourself but the nation and world around you, then ALL should be allowed the same opportunities without facing fiscal slavery for the rest of your lives. Political posturing and stonewalling need to be overcome thoroughly, the next level certification process needs to be completely revamped and IGNORANCE, reinforced by suppression and greed needs to be vilified. The United States is a democratic republic with SOCIAL needs! Our forefathers recognized and accepted it. Why can't we???
--author, Kaysie Markwardt
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