It passed 220-215 with a huge democratic majority in the house. Good luck getting this thing through the Senate. Then good luck again getting the reconciled bill passed by either legislative body.
This thing is dead in its current form. Mark my words. #healthcare
@badasscat: C’mon, have some optimism. The abortion amendment is regressive, but the general spirit of the bill is progressive. I see all of this as true foundation laying for something that will last, and not something that will be reversed the second a new administration comes into play.
According to CNN: "The prohibition would exclude cases of rape, incest or if the woman's life is in danger."
So, basically we're going to see a spike in abortion-seekers claiming they were raped, or in sympathetic doctors claiming that the abortion-seeker's life is in danger. #healthcare
I tend to think that, abortions or no, this bill is going to do far more good for women than bad. For instance -- I'm poor. If this bill doesn't pass and I need an abortion, I have to pay for it out of my own pocket. If this bill DOES pass, I also have to pay for it. However, the bill DOES subsidize plans that cover contraception. As a result, more women will be able to afford the pill in this country than ever before. #healthcare
@eatsshootsleaves: That's interesting.
I'm Canadian... and while we pay quite a bit for contraception (I pay about $30-$40 a month for the Patch) getting an abortion is free*
(* = Up until a certain point. If you're 8 months pregnant and want one, you have to pay.) #healthcare
@DeadliestSin: Getting contraception in the U.S. will cost money, too, because of co-pays. But it's not like this money is out of reach for most people. With my old insurance I only had to pay 10 bucks a month for the pill. #healthcare
@eatsshootsleaves: I can send in my recipts to my insurance company and get a refund, so I'll only end up paying around $10 too. We also have birth control clinics for people who do not have health insurance or cannot afford birth control. I used it for a while while I was in college, birth control there was $5-$10 a month depending on what form you used. I also got the Depo Provera shot for several hundred dollars cheaper than it would have normally cost me. In Canada we still have expensive medications, but it's easier to get coverage to lower the costs of those medications. #healthcare
Seriously, this sort of information really puts this vote and its dissenters in perspective. If health reform actually becomes law, it will be one of the largest (if not THE largest) overhauls of U.S. health care in our history. And yet the resulting system will still be behind most other developed countries in terms of breadth and quality. #healthcare
@MisterHippity: And another round of approvals after the conference committee works out any differences between the House and Senate versions. So several more chances to water the thing down. Aaargh! #healthcare
The Republicans started the long overdue drive toward socialism by buying banks. The Democrats continued the quest by starting to nationalize health care. Now THAT's bipartisanship! #healthcare
The Democrats didn't make the abortion compromise for the Republican moral majority -- they made it for other Democrats. Otherwise, they wouldn't have gotten the votes and healthcare would be dead.
@eatsshootsleaves: More compromises to come, just to get the Democratic votes needed. Sometimes I envy the Republicans their ability to march in lockstep on complicated issues. But only sometimes. #healthcare
@phlox✔: No, silly, the Democrats were elected on a platform of mandatory abortions and mandatory abortions are what the people will receive! Only you need to pay for your abortion yourself, otherwise it's socialist. #healthcare
@Glib and Bitchy: I'll say this about George Bush - he kept the Repubs in line. None of that Blue (or Red, as it were) Dogs Republicans shit. Sigh. #healthcare
@Glib and Bitchy: The lockstep is not hard when your party is a monolithic unit made up of white evangelicals. Anyone else who speaks up is a RINO. #healthcare
@katekate is squared: Yeah. I don't really understand how that amendment is supposed to work, though I know it can't be good. Still, I'm ready to give up a lot just to get a bill passed and to have something to build on in the future.
Can't help but smile when opponents charge any bill is a foot in the door leading to single-payer, and "responsible" Dems pooh-pooh it, because the GOP is --for once -- right.
Patience . . . #healthcare
Remember when Charlie Brown goes trick-or-treating? Everyone inventories the candy they got except for poor Chuck who sadly announces, "I got a rock." Also remember how his ghost costume had holes all over it because he had trouble with the scissors? I'm now picturing Real Tears Chrissy (TM) back in Minnesota with his kite stuck in a tree crying "Aaaaargh!" #projectrunway
Most casualties of suicide attacks in the so-called "Islamic jihad" are not just civilians, but also Muslims. Let's be clear about this: fundamentalist monkeys (with their fucked up world views about women, girls education, governance, jurisprudence and a few other things) who blow up shoppers in outdoor markets in Basra, or tourists in Bali, or train commuters in London, or office workers in Manhattan, or hotel employees in Islamabad, or diners in Amman, or bus riders in Israel, are not fucking martyrs. This guy deserves to spend the rest of his life in a 12X12 concrete cell in Supermax. And if he's put to death, I won't shed any tears. #maliknidalhasan
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This thing is dead in its current form. Mark my words. #healthcare
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I have hope for this. #healthcare
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[www.freerepublic.com] #healthcare
12:34 AM
So, basically we're going to see a spike in abortion-seekers claiming they were raped, or in sympathetic doctors claiming that the abortion-seeker's life is in danger. #healthcare
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I'm Canadian... and while we pay quite a bit for contraception (I pay about $30-$40 a month for the Patch) getting an abortion is free*
(* = Up until a certain point. If you're 8 months pregnant and want one, you have to pay.) #healthcare
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Seriously, this sort of information really puts this vote and its dissenters in perspective. If health reform actually becomes law, it will be one of the largest (if not THE largest) overhauls of U.S. health care in our history. And yet the resulting system will still be behind most other developed countries in terms of breadth and quality. #healthcare
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11/07/09
11/07/09
but best not implantation ladies! because no one has your back. #healthcare
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11/07/09
11/07/09
Not that it doesn't suck. #healthcare
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11/07/09
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Can't help but smile when opponents charge any bill is a foot in the door leading to single-payer, and "responsible" Dems pooh-pooh it, because the GOP is --for once -- right.
Patience . . . #healthcare
11/07/09
11/07/09
11/07/09
A-effing-men. #themenwhostareatgoats