![[Signifying Nothing]](/local/memlogo-1.png "Welcome to Signifying Nothing")
From TigerHawk’s reaction to the furor surrounding the Stupak anti-abortion amendment to the House version of the health care bill:
The real problem, of course, is that this fight reveals the ugly truth of statist health care: That personal medical decisions are no longer a matter of private bargaining, but of political argument. The fight over abortion funding is not an exception, it is a harbinger. Medical decisions are becoming more ethically complex and culturally contentious, not less. Do you really want the legislature deciding who may pull what plug, whether men can get drugs for longer-lasting erections, or whether functional neurosurgery to treat depression, addiction, or obesity is a good idea? Speaking only for myself, I would rather that my employer dangle these benefits in its campaign to retain me than have the matter settled by some clown Congressman from a safe seat in a distant state.
Somehow I don’t think TigerHawk is the only one with similar sentiments.
![[Permalink]](/images/permalink.png "Permanent link to this entry"){kind=small}
Recent posts
![[The GIMP]](/buttons/gimp.png "The GIMP"){kind=small}
![[Steal These Buttons!]](/buttons/steal.png "Steal These Buttons!"){kind=small}
3 comments:
Just to double check…the government interfering in health decisions is bad….unless the health decision is related to having an abortion….then the government should control it…have I got that particular point of view down? :)
Of course, this assumes your employer is waging a campaign to retain you (in which case, you needn’t opt for the public option) – which is hardly the experience of most working Americans. And isn’t that the exact problem the Democrats are trying to solve?
Scott: Well, the actual point would be that the government by getting involved in health care for everyone is taking sides in abortion almost by definition: if they fund it, they’re taking the pro-choice side, and if they don’t, they’re taking the pro-life side. Either way they’re doing something that many Americans find immoral (denying abortions to poor women who couldn’t afford them without insurance or paying for them to have abortions).
Dubi: My understanding is that the public option won’t be available to people who have employer-sponsored health insurance, only the people in the “exchanges” who don’t. Hence most Americans won’t have any more choice under this plan than they do today.