Armed Forces Medical Plan Limits Abortions

[Eugene]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-5219320,00.html

Armed Forces Medical Plan Limits Abortions


Thursday August 18, 2005 11:01 PM

By DAVID KRAVETS

AP Legal Affairs Writer

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that U.S.
armed forces medical benefits should cover abortion costs only when a
mother's life is at risk, a decision that the judges acknowledged was "callous and unfeeling."

The ruling by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals came in the case of a Navy sailor's wife whose fetus had a
fatal birth defect. She had an abortion five months into her
pregnancy, but coverage for the procedure was denied.

She filed a lawsuit claiming an armed forces health plan owed her
$3,000 for the procedure. The government argued that refusing to cover
such services "furthers the government's interest in protecting human
life in general and promoting respect for life."

In Thursday's 3-0 ruling, judges said they were not judging the
"wisdom, fairness or logic" of congressional legislation that limited
abortions under military medical plans.

more...

[xultar]

1. Another reason they should Draft Republicans.

[ironman202]

2. jesus, $3000 for an abortion?

[TomInTib]

3. A friend tells me that Planned Parenthood charges 10% of

your monthly income, and they are very helpful and supportive, and will not let you out the door without a birth-control program. Plus they have big bowls of all kinds of condoms sitting out like cocktail peanuts.

[VegasWolf]

5. Yes, and the religions that oppose abortion want 10% of your monthly

income, not just once, but EVERY SINGLE month.

BTW, what is the problem with free condoms? I don't see it.

[TomInTib]

9. Great point! Plus most of those same religions take that 10%

and use some of it to fight Planned Parenthood, abortion, the morning-after pill and birth-control, especially for the horniest segment of the population - teens. I guess they just want more babies for adoption, white ones that aren't born addicted to crack.

BTW - I am all FOR free condoms, I think that it was a really cool idea to have a huge bowl filled with all kinds and colors - it makes condoms seem fun, and I would think that it takes the stigma of using one away.

[TomInTib]

11. Free Condoms...one more thing...

Last year my sweetheart fired a whole bunch of condoms out an upper window of the Sheraton Manhattan...all but one were gone in the morning. Doing our part...

[funflower]

12. She was five months along. She probably had to be under a general

anesthetic. I had an "abortion" of a fetus that had died in utero at about that stage some years ago, and the price doesn't surprise me.

[Ilsa]

57. She was five months into her pregnancy.

This is no longer a simple out-patient procedure. It requires anesthesia and a more complicated procedure to insure the abortion is complete, otherwise the woman can suffer infection, excessive bleeding, etc.

That poor woman and her husband. Her baby had a fatal birth defect, probably a major chromosome problem. And her military and govt treat her like shit. This was a medical problem, and should be covered completely.

[KamaAina]

4. Way to support the troops, dingbats!

:grr: :banghead;

[Solly Mack]

6. I thought people already knew this (falls under the Hyde Amendment)

PP has been fighting it for years



Abortion Access for Military Service Members
Congress has used its funding powers to single out certain clases of women (low-income, federal employees, military personnel serving overseas, residents of the District of Columbia and women in federal prisons) and restrict their access to legal abortions because their health care is funded in part by the federal government. As part of this relentless attack on access to abortion services, Congress continues to bar military service members and their dependents from obtaining abortions in U.S. military hospitals overseas - even if they use their own money. Representatives voted on lifting this ban, which contains exceptions only for cases of life endangerment, rape, or incest, and is especially harmful to those women stationed overseas in countries where abortion is illegal and/or unsafe. (5/19/04, Davis Amendment to H.R. 4200, amendment failed, roll call 197)


Abortion Access for Low Income Women
The 105th Congress wrote into permanent law a near ban on coverage of abortion services in a domestic health program. Representatives voted on prohibiting federal funds from being used to pay for abortion except when the pregnancy results from rape or incest or when an abortion is necessary to save a woman's life. This discriminatory language is known as the "Hyde Amendment." (9/11/97, Hyde Amendment to H.R. 2264, amendment passed, roll call 388)

http://www.ppaction.org/ppvotes/vote.html?pol_scope=house

[HockeyMom]

18. Military is still functioning in the 16th Century

Look at that 4 Star General up on court-martial charges for Adultery when he had a Legal Separation. What is next? No Divorce too?

[Solly Mack]

20. Oh, I'd blame Congress for this one...and especially Henry Hyde

and all that helped to make it law

If Congress allowed the military to cover abortion (period) under their health plan, the military would do so

[Child_Of_Isis]

7. And how about them boob jobs? n/t

[bleedingheart]

59. Yeah...they will pay to train Army plastic surgeons to put fake boobs in

women...but won't pay for abortions.

There was a news report about this recently...

[go freedom]

8. They should make a law...

They should make a law that says the military has to pay the maximum rate of child support for any child born due to a denied abortion.

You would see pubbies go pro-choice in a heartbeat if they actually had to pay for forcing their religious agendas on others.

[mom cat]

10. Welcome to DU go freedom! I like your reasoning!

:hi:

[go freedom]

15. Thank you ma'am.

Pubbies love to force their "morality" on others, up to the point they have to bust out their wallets to pay the costs.

They want the government to be powerful enough to prevent women from having control over their reproduction, but the government should never be powerful enough to make them pay for the social consequences of the children their parents knew they couldn't support.

They are "pro-life" only until the foetus is born, and eligable for assistance; then it can starve before it gets any of their money.


They need to make up their minds. A government powerful enough to deny medical care to women will be powerful enough to make the whole of society bear the costs of the results.

A government small enough, and weak enough, that it can't assess financial responsibility for social costs will be small enough, and weak enough, that it can't prevent women for contracting with their doctors for medical care that prevents childbirth.

They need to make up their minds.

[mom cat]

79. That presupposes minds that can be made up!...Otherwise, right on!

[TomInTib]

13. Excellent idea - take it straight off their tax cuts...that'll hit 'em

where they live!

Welcome!

[Horse with no Name]

75. They ought to pass a law stating also that if they force parents

to have children that they would otherwise opt not to have, that the military CANNOT deploy the parent so they can stay home and help raise the kids they are being forced to have.

[funflower]

14. This case illustrates why "pro-life" legislation doesn't work. You just

can't legislate for every situation in which an abortion might be necessary and appropriate. The fetus had a fatal birth defect, fer cryin' out loud, but the wingers want the woman to carry it to term regardless. :mad:

Every young woman who is considering enlisting in the military or marrying a military man should know that if she conceives a baby with a fatal birth defect, the military will force them to carry it to term or pay potentially thousands of dollars (since such birth defects usually are not diagnosed early) for an abortion.

God, I hate the insane thinking behind these kinds of policies.

[TomInTib]

16. So the same people who espouse a "culture of life" have

declared an illegal war and charged these same soldiers with the duty to kill tens of thousands of innocent civilians, many of them children. But aborting a foetus that has a fatal condition, that's wrong. At five months, you know that decision was not taken lightly.

[funflower]

17. Grrrrrrr.......

That's all I can say.

:mad: :puke: :mad: :puke: :mad: :puke: :mad: :puke: :mad: :puke:

[go freedom]

19. Yep.

If you remove a clump of cells from your uterus, you are a murderer. If you bust a cap in a pregnant Iraqi woman's head, you are a hero spreading freedom and democracy in the Middle East.

Makes sense to me.

[Rose Siding]

21. NYT- Court Rules U.S. Need Not Pay for Abortion of Doomed Fetus

While suggesting that its decision might seem "callous and unfeeling," a federal appeals court here ruled Thursday that the Navy need not pay for an abortion received by a sailor's wife, even though doctors said the fetus had a birth defect and could not survive.

The unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit came in the case of a 23-year-old woman who lives in Bremerton, Wash. Her name was not disclosed.

The woman terminated her pregnancy in 2002 after she learned that her fetus had no forebrain or cerebellum, a fatal condition known as anencephaly. Because her husband was in the Navy, the woman was covered under the military's health plan, the Civilian Health and Medical Program for the Uniformed Services, or Tricare.

But Tricare administrators said they were barred from paying for the abortion. Federal law prohibits payment for abortions except "where the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term." A regulation putting the law into effect specifically excludes payments for situations involving "fetal abnormalities" and mentions anencephaly.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/19/national/19abort.html

[halobeam]

22. SCREAMIN' LOUDLY HERE.

[madeline_con]

24. For? Against?

?

[halobeam]

34. I'm completely against this exclusion in her medical coverage.

Once again, someone thinks it's their decision on what a woman should do with her body. It's damn wrong. That's my opinion. They are welcome to theirs but with THEIR BODY....NOT MINE. Man this gets me powered up.

[madeline_con]

35. Maybe I'm just unaware....

of how many med insurance plans include abortions.

I seem to be drawing a lot of heat on this one.

[halobeam]

39. I think the point is more that they are ONLY covering certain

circumstances in order to pay for abortion. This seems selective toward their own beliefs and an abuse of their power (policy making) to control/punish (monetarily, emotionally, etc).. the woman who has a different set of beliefs (who happens to be the insured).


Personally, I don't think if a poor woman has to pay for it, then insurance shouldn't pay for it for anyone who is insured. It seems twisted around a bit too much there for me. I think if you have medical insurance they should pay for it. Otherwise, they can call it an "optional" procedure, and that is by far a perverse position to take on such a serious issue. As far as someone who doesn't have insurance to cover it, I don't know what the answer is there.

I am sure someone who has more experience in this area would be better to comment on that. I just have to believe there are many ways...BETTER ways to handle all of this, and as usual, the government is taking too much control over personal decisions.

[madeline_con]

43. If it's just a surgical proceedure....

it could be seen the way plastic surgery is.

Reconstructive surgery, as in burn treatment, skin grafting, etc. is covered by medical plan A.

But breast augmentation and nose jobs to look "nice" aren't.

So, to keep expenses down, they opt to only do abortions in the case the mnother's life is in danger.

I'm sure there are many other procedures not covered under the military plan.

[halobeam]

48. That's the PROBLEM though.

Don't you see it??? Who are they to say WHAT is an OPTION! In my heart and my soul, it would NOT be an option to have this child. This isn't so I would look nice. This isn't even because I couldn't afford another child, although let me stress myself here that I still consider that to be MY CHOICE, if that were my reason. This is because the fetus has no chance at LIVING.

You see where this "option" clause gets messy? Either cover the procedure because woman may want this procedure by a DOCTOR or don't cover it at all. They are playing MASTER with a womans body. They choose when it's okay and when it's not.

[madeline_con]

71. "Who are they to say WHAT ...

is an OPTION!"

The truth is, they're the ones paying the bill. Consequently, there has to be a limit somewhere.

Just like with HMos and the like, the bottom line is cost.

If it's o.k. to get an abortion on demand, it would cost more than to restrict it to those women whose health is in danger if they carry to term.

I honestly don't think anyone's making a high and mighty moral judgement, just a financial decision.

(Now, according to Hubby, the military DOES pay for bood jobs, so I give up on that aspect.) :eyes:

[Ilsa]

58. The military loves to give their surgeons practice on

plastics procedures. They are easy to apply for and receive because they need the surgeons to stay in practice for repairs done during war.

This was a medical problem that would save the insurance company more in the long run if the abortion was performed. They are counting on the woman's emotional state to cover the cost of the abortion versus them covering the cost of the sick baby being born, getting care at $5,000 a day. They are playing psych games with moms.

[madeline_con]

72. I don't think they care enough to play games with the moms...

They have to keep costs down, and the woman's feelings be damned.

As for paying more in the long run, I could have a baby in California in the 80's and get all sorts of help, but medical didn't pay for birth control. Very strange.

It wasn't until years later I read in UTNE that the reason could well have been the Catholic hospitals connected to the healthcare system. I don't know if that's changed or not.

[MADem]

69. I know a senior officer's wife who got liposuction, a boob job AND

a nose job at WR...before the war, of course. Space available, but amazingly, space was available. How convenient that a really good plastic surgeon was doing his two weeks acdutra.

If you know the right people, you can get anything done at a military medical facility. If you are a junior enlisted or junior officer, odds are you do not know the right people....

[colinmom71]

51. It depends on whether the abortion is considered medically necessary...

Very few plans cover purely elective abortions (as in a 1st trimester without medical complications), but most will cover a procedure if needed to preserve the woman's health. Like any surgery, the insurance company will ask for certification and authorization of medical necessity by the physician. Even Medicaid will pay for an abortion where there are medical complications present that endanger the pregnant woman's health.

Of the four medical coverages I've had (one of which was Medicaid), three had provisions to pay for abortion only when medically necessary as emergency treatment. Our current plan pays for abortion for any reason at any point in the pregnancy, minus the standard office visit co-pay of $15. But our plan is a pretty comprehensive plan that few employers can afford to fund. It even pays for infertility treatments that most plans will not provide. (Yes, I know how lucky we are.)

The issue with this woman's insurance is that it's federally appointed and per the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funding of abortion, insurers providing coverage to federal employees cannot cover abortion except in cases where the woman's health and/or life are endangered by continuing the pregnancy. Ironically, as much as insurance companies do all they can to not have to pay out on claims, it would have cost considerably more for the insurer to cover the rest of the woman's pregnancy and the baby's NICU care had she not terminated... Republicans, in passing the Hyde Amendment, actually bound the federally provided insurance to pay out more in certain cases by proscribing abortion funding except in the most emergent of cases... Excellent example of how fiscal conservatism wars with social conservatism...

[madeline_con]

23. I think.....

women have tragic situations and give birth to babies who won't make it every day.


She should pay the bill. If she feels the law should be changed, she should work to see it happens.

Personally, I don't think it's fair that a poor mom can't have her abortion paid for, but this Navy wife wants hers to be.

[Rose Siding]

25. It isn't "fair" that poor people have no health care coverage of any kind

But health care coverage is provided to military families and it's wrong for them to exclude payment for this procedure.

[madeline_con]

28. Some poor people can get various types of free and...

low cost health care plans. I've been on medicaid and have put my son on KidCare.

By virtue of having a Navy job, this family can afford to seek an abortion outside a military facility.

[Megahurtz]

64. Yeah, but what if she's stuck in Iraq?

Not so easy to get an abortion there without help, isn't it?

[Canuckistanian]

26. So what's the alternative if she can't pay?

Give birth to lifeless corpse? I'm sorry but where's the compassion in that?

[madeline_con]

29. Yes, it won't be the first time...

a woman went through that.

I don't understand why she thinks being a Navy wife excludes her from the pain and heartache of things that happen to people every day.

[Lars39]

37. What kind of axe you grinding there?

That's sick.

[cmd]

77. Then she should be able to sue for mental anguish

and collect millions. It is inhumane to expect a woman to carry a fetus inside her that has no chance of life. That is torture in an extreme form. It has nothing to do with who has or does not have insurance. It is simply torture.

[Horse with no Name]

76. Or even worse the psychological damage to the woman

Knowing this baby is only born to die...having strangers and others who don't know asking her when she is due, does she want a boy or a girl, giving their congratulations...all well meaning but devastating nonetheless.

[DELUSIONAL]

27. she isn't a POOR mom

the fact is that the rules are different for DEPENDENTS --

One thing you learn real fast is that when you belong to the Navy -- you have zero rights. It is questionable if we are even citizens -- in fact I had guards on bases tell me that the moment I would cross the line onto military property -- the CO was the KING.

I don't like your attitude -- civilians like you are completely ignorant about military life and the CRAP SHIT medical care that the military gets.

[madeline_con]

30. She's not special enough to get

a government funded abortion unless it's available across the board, IMO.

Whatever the rules are, or who owns who, that's my opinion.

No one said you had to like my attitude.

[femrap]

40. Do you hear yourself...

Who Owns Who???? Gee I thought Slavery was over....isn't it?

Maybe you are missing that same Empathy Gene that W. is???

Can't you put yourself in her situation?

If you reproduce and your child is terribly handicapped and deformed, do you have the financial and emotional wherewithall to cope with it?

Show some compassion....please.

[ninkasi]

41. I'm sorry, because you have obviously had some hard times...

So have I. I do not, however, believe that because I have encountered obstacles in my life, or that because I am denied something, everybody else should be. The decision not to pay for this abortion is wrong. The method of determining what qualifies a woman to have the procedure paid for by insurance is wrong.

As you say, "She's not special enough to get a government funded abortion unless it's available across the board." That is your opinion, and you are entitled to it. However,why tie your problems to another persons, and claimed that if you couldn't have the same thing, they don't deserve it, either?

Why expect a woman to go through an entire pregnancy, knowing the whole time that the child she gives birth to will die shortly? Even if I had been forced to have a baby in those circumstances, if anything, it would have made me more sensitive to other women facing the same thing.

As I say, you have apparently suffered some things, and I'm sorry. It's still not a reason to be indifferent to what others are going through. I hope your life gets better, truly. As you point out, you are not asking for approval of your opinion, nor am I. I am only giving it, as you did.

[saigon68]

32. It is Crap Shit medical care

But if you think active duty care is Bad.

Use the VA sometime. Guys from Bangladesh making $200,000.00 a year who can't speak English. working on a visa so they can become citizens and make $ 2 or 3 mill a year at some private hospital (aurora) and then live in a gated community.

[DELUSIONAL]

46. Yes the VA care is far worse than active duty care

I have Vietnam era Vet friends -- and they don't have much nice to say about the VA. My father so far hasn't had to rely on the VA -- but who knows what will happen to his United Airlines benefits?

When I was a kid we used to call the Navy docs -- X-terns -- they weren't even good enough to be Interns -- they were X-terns.

Many Vets are lucky enough to have civilian careers and medical benefits -- no one wants to use VA unless that's all they have.

For a few idiot males to force their belief on women -- OR men -- is wrong and immoral.

The only positive remark about military health care I've heard -- "It's better than nothing."

[saigon68]

49. Yes I suppose-- the VA is better than nothing

at least the prescriptions are free or less than a $5 co-Pay.

[w8liftinglady]

65. Sure-that's all you vets deserve...better than nothing?

I am a nurse who works near a Huge VA hospital.It is a sin how those men and women who served our country are treated.They closed another VA hospital about 100 miles from here,so now all those poor guys have to commute 100 miles to get their health care.I'm sorry,dammit..I love my veteran patients,and respect them to the nth degree.They deserve as good as the elected officials,if not better.If you left it up to the Republicans,they would do away with the VA altogether.They recently tried to cut 1.2 billion dollars,but had to replace it due to the HUGE influx of wounded veterans generated by this lovely war.Shame on every one of them.

[saigon68]

67. I take part of that back

Some of the Nicest nurses etc. are still in the VA. They are over worked and underpaid. A lot of the Dr's tho SUCK

You are right, if it were up to the CHIMPANZEE and Cheney they would close down the VA and give every disabled vet $100.00 a month, to cover it all in private hospitals.

[w8liftinglady]

68. My rant wasn't directed at you..Thanks for your service :)

Most of the doctors at my VA are student doctors from other countries.They really have no appreciation for the service our veterans have given.It reminds of the time I had a patient with severe PTSD after Nam,who had overdosed.We mistakenly assigned a Filipina nurse,who he thought was vietnamese.It didn't help his delusions.i see the same thing happening with our soldiers coming back.A huge percentage of the student doctors here are from the Middle East-Saudi arabia,Iran and Pakistan.One of my doctors was still in the Iranian Air force,and had to do his reserve duty from time to time.I'm not trying to profile-but things are what they are.

[Hekate]

31. Cruel, cruel, cruel policy

Anencephalic babies have this chance of survival: zero, nada, nil, none. Your brain tells your lungs to breathe, your heart to beat, your gut to digest food. This poor woman conceived something with human DNA and less brain than a cabbage. A cabbage at least "knows" how to "eat" sunlight and grow more leaves. Anencephalic babies grow while in the womb because they are living off their mothers; I think the longest one has survived outside the womb is a week. This is not a "deformity," it is a fatal birth defect. This is not Down's Syndrome or any other form of retardation. There is nothing there to save or nurture.

So moving on from that to women in the military, whether dependents or personnel. Try not to get raped, will ya? 'Cause Uncle Sam won't help.

Hekate
:argh: :argh: :argh:

[femrap]

42. Hekate...let me help you toss

that computer across the room....I wish Aunt Samatha were the one making the rules and then when a woman in the military found herself pregnant as a result of a rape from one of her fellow soldiers, at least she could find some help.....

[pk_du]

33. I for one

and I'm not female so for me , no "guy" should have a REAL say in this shit , believe No-ONE should have to pay to abort this type of fetus.... get real!

[TaleWgnDg]

36. Yup. Congress has written a law saying that NO military . . .

.
Yup. Congress has written a law saying that NO military personnel or their dependents can get an abortion UNLESS the "life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term." P E R I O D.

Same with "welfare females" . . . yup.

In both cases, the federal government REFUSES to pay for abortions. P E R I O D. Thankfully, some states (but not many) have picked up the abortion costs for welfare females who are pregnant.

However, can you envision a woman -- military -- serving overseas in some god-forsaken country who is pregnant? Cannot get an abortion except to pay for it herself via some back-alley filthy abortionist in some horrific foreign country? HELLO? Same course of events if it's a military dependent too.

How about this case where the fetus was horrifically deformed? She must carry it to full term and "give birth" to "it" UNLESS she can find an abortionist and can pay for it. HELLO?

This is our U.S. congress gone mad. This is our U.S. congress promulgating religion upon America. Not common sense. And surely not compassion. My compassion goes out to the judges on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals who all knew that their hands were tied by our U.S. Congress' madness.

[TaleWgnDg]

38. One more thing . . .

.
One more thing . . . As a lawyer who has fought long and hard for individual rights including the right of a woman NOT to remain pregnant if she so choses, I find it abhorrent that the public apparently grasps these events ONLY when it impacts them or when they *see* it on television for a moment or two. Even at that the public still votes in these *ssholes who pass laws that injure the most vulnerable amongst us.



.

[femrap]

44. Thank you TaleWgnDg for you long and hard..

fight.....I, too, feel so strongly that a woman must have freedom and control over her body...

I hope the tide will turn and people will see the pain and suffering they are inflicting on others via their 'religious' stance.

[TaleWgnDg]

52. femrap, welcome to DU and thank for the kudos . . . n/t

[countmyvote4real]

45. Maybe it’s in the interest of the HMO’s to keep the terminal alive.

You know, for profit. Almost everything else in the interest of the patient is denied. You know, for profit. Hmm, something seems askew here.

[NoQuarter]

47. In this profit is everything environment,

I can't believe it took one hour and 20 minutes for that point to be made.

[Hekate]

50. No, it's about pandering to far-right religous fundies....

...who have squawked so long and hard about "morality" and "God's will" that they half-convinced a lot of other people that they really do have the moral high ground. This is a red-meat issue. A lot of politicians run scared of them. This is Bush's base.

As it happens, poll after poll after poll shows that the American people are in line with the provisions of Roe vs. Wade: that is, it is the woman's personal business the first three months, with increasing restrictions imposed as the fetus gets closer to viability outside the womb. There are precious few late-term abortions in this country, and all of them are personal tragedies. But the wingnuts have convinced a significant segment of the public that Roe vs. Wade means "abortion on demand" and that there are whole herds of dimwitted cows who wake up one morning in their 8th month and go, "Gee whiz, I think I'll get an abortion today." Well, there aren't and they don't.

A million-plus women and men marched on Washington in April last year to send the politicians a message: we are pro-child, pro-family, and pro-choice. And a lot of us marched under religious banners, because the wingnuts do not have a lock on morality and there are many thoughtful religious points of view on the subject.

But you know Bush and his Congressional pals. Our march didn't make an iota of difference to them. They need the votes of their far-right fundie base, and sending women back to the 19th century keeps 'em happy. Letting women in third world nations die is fine too -- Congress won't send a dime of health-clinic money overseas if the word abortion is so much as whispered, not even referrals elsewhere are allowed, not for any reason. It's a particularly obscene policy in war-torn areas where rape is just another weapon of war.

But hey, it shows we're moral here in the USA.

So DUers, those of you who think that if you can't afford health care, no one should have health care (because that's what a couple of you are really saying) -- think again. Ask yourself, "Who does it (inadequate health care) serve?"

Because now that the wingnuts are on the very edge of overturning Roe, they are already working on making birth control pills hard to get -- they want to make it legal for pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions if it "goes against their personal morals" and the Pill is high on the list. Of course, what they talk about is the RU486 and the Morning After Pill, but what they are turning down is the plain old Birth Control Pill.

Women often pay for prescription contraceptives out-of-pocket as many health plans simply don't cover them. The health plans cover Viagra, but not the Pill. How about that?

Sorry -- I know it looks like I strayed off topic, but in reality reproductive health care is never just one thing, it is a continuum. It is never just one thing, and it is about women's health.

Hekate

[Megahurtz]

66. Yeah, Health Plan Covers VIAGRA and Not the Pill!!!

Sick Fucking Right-Wing Whackjobs!:argh:

[Name removed]

53. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[SoCalDem]

54. At the heart of it, the fight is about MONEY, as much as morality..

The right wingers do not want medicaid or federal money going to pay for "the results of promiscuity".. the odd thing is that without the abortion, a child will be in permanent need of support help, which they ALSO abhor.. They have a conundrum on their hands..

If the post-natal fetuses are white babies, they will gladly find a home for them, but if they are not...well..then we come back to "personal responsibility & all that claptrap"..

Abortions have always existed, and always will..The issue we have these days is who will provide them and how will they be paid. It's as simple as that....and as complicated

[Mr.Green93]

55. Is there a fund or something set up

to help this woman with her expenses?

[Corgigal]

56. I'm sure the active duty women

can get an abortion, they just call it a D & C. When I was active duty USAF our base couldn't perform the procedure BUT they would put you on a hop to Ohio where you would have it done. Now I know that was offered to active duty women, not sure about dependent wives.

[Ilsa]

61. That depends on how "on-board" the doctor and staff are.

They would easily be able to determine if she is pregnant, and that the procedure is, in fact, an abortion, a violation of the rules. I wouldn't count on this being available except for the very higher-ups.

[Ilsa]

60. I hope she has the money to pursue getting this changed

via the courts. It isn't right. The insurance would save money by her not continuing a hopeless pregnancy.

[Bigmack]

62. Court sides with Navy over abortion...

And yet even MORE "compassionate conservatism"....

Friday, August 19, 2005

Court sides with Navy in dispute over abortion
By PAUL SHUKOVSKY SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Calling its own decision "callous and unfeeling," a federal appeals court ruled Thursday against a Navy sailor's wife from Everett who aborted a horribly deformed fetus that was destined to die.

The woman wanted her military health insurance plan to pay for the procedure, but the three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held that its hands were tied: U.S. armed forces medical benefits don't cover abortions unless the pregnant woman's life is at risk. The court ruled that it must defer to a congressional mandate, saying it could not "judge the wisdom, fairness or logic of legislative choices."

In its 3-0 ruling, the court said the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of congressional bans on federal funding of abortion in its ruling on the Hyde Amendment almost 25 years ago. The panel's opinion concluded on a sympathetic note: "While recognizing that the foregoing discussion may seem at times callous and unfeeling, we express our deepest sympathy for the families who must face this difficult ordeal."

The case for the Everett woman, identified only as Jane Doe, began in 2002, when a doctor discovered that her fetus had no brain or skull, would likely be stillborn, and even if born alive, would die within a few weeks. It's a condition called anencephaly, which is always fatal.


http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/237239_navywife19.html

[Megahurtz]

63. This is Fucking Bullshit!!!

So if a female soldier gets raped she is practically forced to have her rapist's child???:wtf:
DRAFT ALL FUNDAMENTALIST REPUBLICANS!!!:argh:

[genieroze]

70. She should have had the kid and made the government pay for all

the medical costs trying to keep the fetus alive once born. What morons
these people are.

[Fire Walk With Me]

73. More evidence of the agenda.

Separation of church and state was a nice idea, oh so long ago.

[MADem]

74. Years ago, there was a move afoot to authorize them at overseas facilities

...on a reimbursable basis. The reason for this was that a woman would have to go out on the local economy otherwise, and standards of care were not as good. The only other option was to take leave and fly home to the states, a very expensive option in both money and time (and leave was not always easy to get in some environments).

The military does not want to touch the issue with a forty foot pole, frankly. A lot of people tried, and it was like pounding the old noggin against a brick wall....

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

78. Once again the Repukes screw our military over.

Fucking assholes!!!!!!!!!!!
:grr: