Health
Thank You Speaker Pelosi! And… Good News… CBPP Says It Will Save Money!
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My friend’s children, who are just about to graduate from college, get to stay on their mom’s health care plan. Yay! Another friend’s son, who is working as an intern and doesn’t have health coverage through his job, can get covered by his parent’s plan again. Yay! Another friend who really wanted to retire from corporate work and get into a private counseling practice in around two years, can start planning for that now, knowing that her pre-existing condition won’t prevent her from getting coverage.
Health
The True Meaning of the Health Care Victory
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There is no question but that the health care victory marks a turning point in the Obama presidency. Obama can now legitimately present himself as a strong president, a man of principle and genuine achievement, someone who, after Massachusetts, snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. With his leadership, the Democratic Party can claim to have remained true to the spirit of its New Deal and populist roots, albeit with a recognition of changing times. Meanwhile the Republicans have once again over-reached, as they did under Gingrich in 1993-1995, and Bush in 2002-2003. Obama’s accomplishment is genuine, and will soon be revealed in the 2010 elections.
Health
Tell Michael Bennet: Introduce the Public Option in the Senate
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This I like, from Jane Hamsher at FireDogLake:
Congress passed its health insurance reform bill last night. It’s an admirable first step, but the task of providing affordable health care to every American is still before us. This week, the Senate will pass a series of fixes to the bill. This is the moment for a leader in the Senate to make the first step towards actual health care reform: putting the public option up for a vote. Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado led others in the Senate in showing that a public option can pass.
Health
Pros and Cons of the Health Care Victory
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Health care reform is finally in the works. What now? I say it’s OK to celebrate partial victories, even while acknowledging what has yet to be accomplished. So let’s celebrate this one! …
Christianity
How about those nuns? Defying the bishops on what "pro-life" means.
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In terms of news, this is old: five days already! And the health care bill just passed the House, which is what this group of nuns wanted to happen, so why mention them? But in terms of the annals of courage, this is big. Now that the bill has passed the House, and for whatever reasons (like giving in to Stupak) and with whatever results, let us celebrate these women. From the On Faith blog last Wednesday:
Hard to say which men will find this more troubling, U.S. Catholic bishops or Glenn Beck, but a “social justice” coalition representing 59,000 U.S. Catholic sisters sent a letter to Members of Congress Wednesday urging them to pass the Senate’s health care bill.
Health
Two Medical Moments
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Crossposted from The Fearless Heart. On Tuesday morning I had the unusual opportunity to offer coaching and support to two women, one from Egypt and one from Sudan, who are heading a unique program in cultural competence for medical students in one of the Persian Gulf Emirates. Across cultural differences (I am, after all, from Israel), without any training in NVC [Nonviolent Communication], we connected, and they learned how they could change outcomes by imagining from the inside the experience of people with whom they were in conflict. Why were they here? The students in the program they teach are generally open and receptive.
Gender and Sexuality
Abortion and Healthcare Reform
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Women’s history tells us what happens when women do not have access to safe and legal abortions. Women die. The good news about expanding healthcare coverage is that when women are making healthy choices day to day about their reproductive health, they will be better able to avoid unwanted pregnancies and thus the need for abortions.
Earth-based Religions
Love the Earth, Respect the Earth
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Growing up I believed that you could get either love OR respect in life, but not both. This was my mother’s understanding of the way the world worked — one she taught me from day one — and maybe it was true for her or even for women of her generation. But over the years, I’ve discovered that without respect, love is a hollow sweetness, and that without love, respect can result in a distance that undoes its best intentions. These insights came back to me Sunday at First Unitarian Society in Madison as I listened to our associate minister Karen Gustavson offer one of her best sermons ever. It was well-crafted, contained great stories and great intelligence, but I disagreed completely with what she had to say.
Health
Memory of a Role Model
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“Just don’t get arrested,” my mother repeatedly warned me. “You might hurt your career as a doctor.” She had lived through the McCarthy era and knew how easily careers ended. Heeding her words, I kept a low profile at anti-Vietnam war demonstrations. In 1981 I finished medical school and began my training in Pediatrics.