hoodwinked

I’m pretty disgusted right about now. I was asleep, knocked out due to my sickness and woke up at midnight to find that the House had passed a health care reform bill (HR 3962). Sounds good at first, especially since we have been trying to get SOME form of legislation moving through the process. Unfortunately, this is not what I was hoping for. I get the feeling that most people had/have no idea that today, in what felt like a backdoor sneak move, Representative Bart Stupak put forth an amendment on a Saturday morning to the proposed health care bill. Oh, it got passed, by the way. What is this bill that you probably didn’t know was even being discussed?

“The Stupak/Pitts amendment violates the spirit of health care reform, which is meant to guarantee quality, affordable health care coverage for all. In fact, this amendment would create a two-tiered system that would punish women, particularly those with low and middle incomes, the very people this bill is intended to assist. The majority of private health insurance plans currently offer abortion coverage, and the Stupak/Pitts amendment would result in the elimination of private abortion coverage in the ‘exchange,’ the new insurance market created under health care reform, as well as in the public option, if one is created.

“The Stupak/Pitts amendment would purportedly allow women who want comprehensive reproductive health care coverage to purchase a separate, single-service rider to cover abortion.  But such abortion riders do not exist because women do not plan to have unintended pregnancies or medically complicated pregnancies that require ending the pregnancy.  These so-called ‘abortion riders,’ which would be the only insurance policy through which abortion care could be covered in the ‘exchange,’ are discriminatory and illogical.  Proposing a separate ‘abortion rider’ or ‘single-service plan’ is tantamount to banning abortion coverage since no insurance company would offer such a policy.*

Take some time. Read that again. How ridiculous is that? While folks were on Twitter talking about brunch, football and #threewordsaftersex, anti-choicers were hijacking health care reform and using this opportunity to revolutionize American health care as a stage for their anti-abortion agenda. Dude… not here. Not this fight. SMH. Don’t be mistaken, taking away abortion coverage (in both private insurance plans and the public option) will not deter people from having unprotected sex. It will not result in a significant decline in abortions sought or performed. It will not only hurt the people you think it might hurt.

Abortion is legal. Until Congress passes a law otherwise (that passes Constitutional scrutiny by the Supreme Court), it is legal. I can’t get hype about HCR, and trust me I WANT to be so hype about HCR, when people are trying to use the backdoor to chisel away at my rights. It’s sneaky and I don’t want my government to work that way. Please believe that the NRA folks would not be down for this. You see how they get when someone even breathes gun control. The Second Amendment gets trotted out like it was the 11th Commandment.

I took a Legislation & Public Policy course in law school. I’m currently taking Politics & Policy in my MPA program. Even without those classes, I know some BS okey doke when I see it. Game recognize game, right? This is a CLASSIC example of how you get a piece of legislation to FAIL. Instead of coming out and saying no to HCR (which will make you look bad, for sure), you say yes but also get on board with an amendment that will alienate so many people that it’s sure to bring down the whole house. This is some back to the drawing board shit if I’ve ever seen it, yet so many folks are just happy to have something, I bet they won’t raise a fuss. You are so used to accepting crumbs from the gov’t that you’re not willing to fight for what you believe in. Meanwhile, those that are AGAINST what you believe in are up ALL night, working hard. No, really. They’re up ALL night. Crazy does not sleep. But listen yall, don’t drink the kool aid. This is not the HCR we want. It’s the HCR we’re settling for.

Find out how your representative voted on the Stupak/Pitts Amendment. If they were on board with the amendment and you are not, please call your rep and let them know how poorly they’ve represented you this weekend.

Definitely hit up your Senators. Ball’s in their court now.

*Cecile Richards, President, Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Read the whole statement here.

when choosing a doctor…

I’m not a racist, I let white folks use my bathroom! I do, however, have a preference for people of color in certain situations, specifically Black folks. There are limits, of course. When given a choice on nearly everything, I don’t care who does it if it’s done well. I don’t go to Starbucks and wait for the Black barista to make my latte over anyone else who is equally qualified at foaming milk and stuff. I do like to have Black doctors, though. Maybe because I haven’t been exposed to many over the years. Perhaps it was too much Cliff Huxtable. Could be now that my friends are dentists, ophthalmologists, anesthesiologist and such, I like the idea even more. I don’t know. Moving to a new city, I’m having to re-up on my roster of health care providers. I’ll probably just break down and ask my friends or coworkers who they see and roll with their recommendations (an excellent way to find a provider, actually) but at present I’m asking around to see who knows a Black dentist, primary care physician and a gyn.

Wait… that last one, gynecologist… that’s a special category. While I wouldn’t mind having a Black FEMALE gyn, I cannot have a Black male. I said as much on Twitter a couple of days ago and I wasn’t able to fully articulate why I felt that way when asked. I don’t even know if I can get my feelings about it across right now but I’ll try (and fail).

Joe Wilson is a jerk (I know)

You know who Joe Wilson is by now. He’s the Representative from SC (R) who, in a most bizarre and disrespectful outburst, shouted “You lie” during President Barack Obama’s address to Congress yesterday. Joe Wilson must be crazy. Joe Wilson must have underestimated the power of the internet. Joe Wilson is having a bad day. Joe Wilson is a jerk. Joe Wilson peed in your soup.

Ok, I can’t verify that last one (unless you’ve recently had soup with a republican legislator from South Carolina). That’s from the Joe Wilson Is Your Preexisting Condition meme. Check the site reminiscent of the always fun Barack Obama Is Your Bicycle site. As if you needed more reasons to dislike Joe Wilson. Ha! I think the homies Snoop and Dr. Dre said it best, “You tryna check my homie, you best check yaself cuz when you dis [the Prez] you dis yaself. (muhfucka!)”

Baby, do you want a massage?

I just thought this was too cute!

No, I’m not talking about that lame line brothers use to try and get you naked (Shout out to Little Brother). The kind of massage I’m talking about can really help a sister out when she’s most in need: During her period.

When I was in college, I went through a period of severe menstrual symptoms. I would have long, heavy periods with cramps, chills/sweats, vomitting, headaches, the whole nine. I was in bad shape. Luckily the worst of the symptoms would only last the first two days, with day one being the most severe. During that time, I started paying more attention to the way my body was feeling, kind of isolating the areas of pain. Most of those places are expected to hurt: lower back, tender breasts, lower abdomen. One place that felt odd was the bottom of my feet. I started to think that maybe there was some pressure point in my foot that was “connected” to my uterus. Since I couldn’t massage my uterus, maybe I could try my foot. BINGO! While I wasn’t able to get complete relief, (probably because I didn’t really know where to touch), I did start to feel something was letting up.

Reflexology is a strange holistic “medicine”, mostly because no one knows how it really works.

Crashing Rights – “The Conscience Exception”

Americans tend to take their rights pretty seriously. Right to free speech, assembly, bearing arms, voting, privacy, religion, etc; we love that shit. People from all walks of life and every belief on the spectrum clings to one or many of those rights at some point in time. What happens, though, when my right to do something comes up against your right to do something? Who’s holding the big joker?

This may have slipped under your radar, depending on how up on public policy you are, but the US Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) is proposing new regulations which basically says medical professionals/facilities receiving Federal funds do not have to perform abortions or like procedures if those acts would conflict with the professional’s/facility’s religious or moral belief.

Alright, well depending on where you stand this might not sound so bad. I can see why someone would think this was a good idea. If I were a conservative person or practiced a religion that taught me abortions were dead wrong, well then I would support the regulation. Perhaps instead of going to law school I wanted to be an Obstetrician (I really did consider this path once in my life, Ob-Gyn). I should be able to choose the kind of job I want without being forced to do things that go against my personal convictions, right?

Making a mountain out of a mole hill?

C L I T O R I S: From the Greek kleitoris, meaning “little hill.”

THE ENTIRE VAGINA IS A CLITORIS.
Ok, I’m kind of exaggerating. But Dr. Helen O’Connell seems to think that the clitoris is more than most medical professionals make it out to be.

The clitoris rivals the penis in size.

“The vaginal wall is, in fact, the clitoris,” said Dr O’Connell, who is based in Melbourne.

“If you lift the skin off the vagina on the side walls, you get the bulbs of the clitoris – triangular, crescental masses of erectile tissue.”

[…] By imaging the pelvises of healthy humans – rather than dissecting dead ones – she has found that the live clitoris is even larger than she first thought.

“There’s nothing quite like the shape of a clitoris,” she said.

“The glans are dense with nerve endings and receptors – all the vibration and sensation is there.”

The bulk of it is shaped like a pyramid, she said.

Its base forms the external genitalia or vulva; its triangular “walls” are wrapped around the urine-carrying tube known as the urethra and the vagina.

When aroused, the whole structure becomes engorged.

“Helen has gone to significant effort to confirm what we suspected,” said Dr Margaret Davy, director of gynecological oncology at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in South Australia.

“The original anatomists weren’t interested in the clitoris. The penis was much more interesting.

“It was bigger and you didn’t have to wear your spectacles to see it.”

[…] “The sex industry has known about this for some time,” said Fiona Patten from the Eros Association, Australia’s adult retail and entertainment industry body.

“You only have to look at the adult products on the market to see that they are not designed to find some tiny button at the top of the vagina.

“They’re designed to stimulate a much larger area.”

Oh word? Wanna see? Check it out this picture and the live drawing below:

I should have gone to art school. This lady has my stick-figures and happy faces beat!

We probably should be focusing on more than just the little part of the clitoris that protrudes outward. In comparison to the entire organ, that’s only the tip of the iceberg (pun intended)! Suggestions?

Sources: Feministing, BBC News

The Right to Bear…Children?

Whether you’re a parent or not, one thing you probably know is that babies cost a lot of money. When the baby gets here they eat all the time, shit through a billion diapers, grow out of their clothing at an astronomical rate, require all kinds of medical care and come with all kinds of cute accessories people can’t help but purchase.

Something you probably haven’t considered is the cost associated with conceiving the child in the first place. There are many Americans who cannot have a child naturally, on their own. Infertility affects about 7.3 million women in this country — about 12% of the reproductive-age population*. Fortunately, we live in a modern society where medical technology allows infertile men and women to have children if they so choose. Well, if they so choose and if they can afford it. Fertility treatments and procedures are crazy expensive.

The cost of giving birth using assisted reproduction technologies such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) exceeds $100,000 when the probability of a live birth falls below 15 percent … The cost of IVF using donor eggs ranges from $15,000 to $25,000. The delivery rate per donor egg is approximately 51 percent at Segars’ clinic, making the cost approximately $30,000 to $49,000 per live birth. **

If you have insurance, it might not cover the procedures. Your coverage depends on where you live and the type of plan you have. Fifteen states currently have laws that require insurers to either cover or offer to cover some form of infertility diagnosis and treatment. Other than that, you’re kind of on your own. This IS America, though and we know that healthcare is a joke here. There are more than 47 million Americans without insurance.***

So what about people who cannot afford it? Should they just give up on the idea to EVER have children of their own? I remember, during my first year of law school, discussing natural rights in constitutional law. There’s a natural right to life, for example. [I understand that this could be a point where one would interject an abortion debate, but it’s not time for that.] Is there a natural right to bear children?

Fun in the Sun?

I was out last night with some friends and their friends. One of these friend’s friends, we’ll call her Amy, is white. Walking down the street, the conversation turned to Amy and her recent trip to a sunny locale and how she got tanned and subsequently sunburned. At the end of this riveting tale, Amy puts her hand on the shoulder of Black friend #1 and says, “But you wouldn’t know anything about that,” in a very nonchalant afterthought kind of way. This isn’t that remarkable if you know Amy because she tends to say a lot of things without thinking first. Still, it caused me to roll my eyes and shoot Black Friend #1 a knowing glance.

I like to lay out in the sun. At the beach, poolside, in a park. The warmth of the sun feels so good on my skin. There’s also the metallic, bronze/gold coloring that brown people tend to get when they tan up. It’s gorgeous. Plus, tan lines can be sexy sometimes. In addition to all of that, to some degree I think I lay out to dispel stereotypes that Black folks don’t DO that. Still, I always apply sunscreen. I am conscious of the effects UV rays can have. I don’t want to look old before my time and I’d prefer not to have to deal with skin cancer and other ailments. There’s a price for beauty, but not all that!

The Pill.

Author/Historian Elaine Tyler May is writing a book about the history and impact of the birth control pill. To that end, she is requesting stories from both men and women about their experiences with The Pill. I found the query interesting and figured I’d respond and include an excerpt of my reply here in this space. I encourage you all to submit your own answers to the questions. Hey, if she uses your response, you get a discount when the book comes out!

The Pill is often considered one of the most important innovations of the twentieth century. As I investigate this claim for a new book—set for release on the 50th anniversary of the Pill’s FDA approval (Basic Books, 2010)—I’m looking to include the voices and stories of real people. I hope yours will be one of them. I’m eager to hear from men as well as women, of all ages and backgrounds.

Have you or any of your partners taken the Pill? Why or why not? How did it work for you—physically, emotionally, and ethically? How has it compared with other contraceptive methods you or your partners have used?

Garbage Knees

I’m 26 and I have garbage knees. 

Why? In middle school, high school and college, I had 3 injuries to my knees: 1 partially torn ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) on one knee and a sprained ACL and MCL (medial collateral ligament) on the other. I got these injuries 1) while in dance class, executing choreography; 2) while playing volleyball, coming down from a spike; 3) running up some stairs in my dorm. 

See, The ACL is a small, rubber-band-like fiber, no bigger than a little finger, that attaches to the femur (thigh bone) in the upper leg and the tibia (shin bone) in the lower leg and stabilizes the knee. When it ruptures, the reconstructive surgery is complicated and the rehabilitation painful and long. It usually takes six to nine months to return to competition, even for professional athletes. The MCL spans the distance from the end of the femur to the top of the tibia and is on the inside of the knee joint. The MCL resists widening of the inside of the joint, or prevents “opening-up” of the knee.