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Simply put, the government is choosing to decide if a woman can have a needed procedure? OK, I can understand an argument against an elective abortion, whether I agree with it or not, but if it is a necessary medical procedure, for instance, to save the life of the mother... Why shouldn't that be covered?

Secondly, I do understand that this may be something that has to be given for now, in order to get health care reform passed. I do not believe for ONE second that whatever we get from this congress will be the final health care reform of our time. Do you?

I think part of the amendment exempts women who have been raped and considers the health of the mother.
Do I think this is the final bill? Nope. I think we will have to continue to press the Senate, and again the house on the final bill. It ain't over.

I read that section of the bill. It seemed more to me that the language of the bill was crafted to do 3 things;
1. Not override existing federal law; (i.e. don't pay)
2. Not interfere with state jurisdiction regarding insured coverage of abortion.
3. Prohibit discrimination of those who do or don't seek abortion by those who do or don't approve of abortion.

I referred to this in another post as "don't discriminate / don't participate".

I think it was an effort to sidestep the issue in order to get something passed. If someone else actually read the bill and interpreted it differently let me know.

we need to get this done......things will not be perfect. One step at a time......review and make corrections as sane people do with anything new. This needs to be done. It wont be the best.....but it can become the best if we allow and people work together. Is that impossible?

The bill is a bad one, whether or not it has this amendment. The amendment was "allowed" to be added to placate the Catholic bishops opposition to the health care bill. It is a ruse because the pro choice people are being told on the side that it was only added to allow some of the pro life democrat congressmen to save face in their districts and will be taken out during reconciliation, if the bill ever gets that far.

I agree with that assessment (about the ruse) mejk. And I agree with you Espirit. We must start somewhere and if it takes a muddled mess of crap to get us going... because of all the special interests... then maybe we should go ahead and start somewhere...

There is no allowance, as I understand it, to terminate a pregnancy that is developing abnormally, either. This is a bad provision in that bill, but hopefully, if it gets passed in the same form through the senate, then afterwards it can be amended.

I still believe that anyone who believes a certain pregnancy should be carried to term should do it themselves, not force their will on another. And take the consequences of that pregnancy, if it survives, for the rest of the child's life.

Every child should be wanted. No one should be forced to continue a pregnancy they don't want. The numbers of abandoned, abused, neglected and murdered children attest to that, sadly. And the women who died at the hands of an amateur while terminating a pregnancy that could have been done by a doctor. The most regressive piece of legislation I can think of for women's health and welfare.

And yet we pay for the 'medical necessity' of Viagra and other similar 'necessary' drugs so a guy can get an erection. It makes me physically ill.

The reason the healthcare bill is such a muddled mess of crap is because they have too many issues rolled into one bill.. It should be split into at least a half dozen bills, and each issue legislated on its own merit. Tort reform as applied to medical malpractice lawsuits and the resultant insurance requirements should be first up.

I fully expect whatever healthcare bill that comes out of congress to a a late term abortion itself . It will lie there in all of its ugliness , stupidity ,petty bickering , and taking care of special interests and will end up costing us a fortune and will most likely make nearly everything about medicine in this country worse instead of better and MORE expensive , instead of less expensive .