What’s
Wrong Today:
Being a woman is no longer a pre-existing
condition since eight preventive services concerning women’s health mandated by
the Affordable Care Act, including contraception coverage, went into effect on
August 1st. This means that insurance companies have to provide birth
control, mammograms and other well-woman and preventative tests and procedures
without co-pay.
Under the policy,
employees of some religiously affiliated institutions, such as Catholic
hospitals and schools, may receive birth control directly from their insurance
company, still without requiring a co-pay.
Churches and houses of
worship are exempt.
The new policy covers
a range of other preventive healthcare services apart from birth control,
including STD screenings and counseling for women who are breastfeeding or are
victims of domestic violence. The
new policy does not cover women without insurance.
So, What’s Wrong?
House Republicans called the ACA’s mandate
“religious bigotry” and compared it to the attacks on Pearl Harbor
and on Sept. 11, 2001. A few GOP freshman House members held a press conference
to draw attention to the start of the program. 
According to The Hill’s Elise Viebeck, some of
them may have gotten a little carried away. This is what
freshman Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) had to say:
“I
know in your mind you can think of the times America was attacked… One is
December 7 — that is Pearl Harbor Day.
Another was September 11 — that was the
day of the terrorist attack…
I
want you to remember August 1, 2012 — the attack on our religious freedom. That
is a date that will live in infamy, along with those other dates.”
Actually,
it IS an anniversary of sorts. August 1st is the 69th anniversary of
the raid on Ploesti, (an oil refinery in
Romania) in 1943, in which the Army Air Forces tried to knock out Hitler’s oil
supply. In all, 54 planes (30% of the wing) were
lost. Five officers received the Medal of Honor for bravery on this mission.
But this was back in the days when
Americans could get together to do something worthwhile and even Republicans
served.
But,
generations from now, will we remember August 1st, 2012, as the first day of
the “Zygote Holocaust”?
Maybe the
Republican freshman can follow up by declaring a “Chic-Fil-A-Infamy Day”.
In all
seriousness, this battle of insanity has become horribly tiring. Preventative
care saves millions of dollars in addition to women’s lives. Who
are these Republican legislators that take the crazy train to every press
conference?
The
Wrongologist has news for them: we passed crazy a few exits back. These guys (apparently
not all men, considering Ms. Bachmann is right there with them) have refined
their gift for bringing hysteria, hyperbole and umbrage taking to the
microphone. They should try for a little perspective:
These benefits are
a choice for the individual to use or not to use.
If using this
portion of your benefits does not line up with your religious beliefs than you
are not obligated to use them.
And this is not
about the government misusing tax receipts. People pay for things every day
(indirectly through their taxes) that go against their conscience and for some,
against their religious beliefs.
War for one. Dick
Cheney’s pension and heart transplants, for another.
And
finally, the mandate was about as stealthy an “attack” as the Macy’s
Thanksgiving Day parade.
Other than
all that, of course, it’s a perfect
analogy, just like every other issue under the sun for our
friends on the Crazy Train.
