“Lean to the left, lean to the right, stand up, sit down, fight, fight, fight!” — Popular sports’ fight chant.
During this 2012 election campaign, is it any wonder that I find myself hearing that chant ringing over and over in my head? Politically, some of us lean to the left, some to the right, some do stand up, too many just sit down, and some do indeed fight, fight, fight!
The problem with just sitting down this year is that one of the teams on the field is fighting to exclude large numbers of people from their hard-fought position of equality under the laws. In recent years, the Republican Party has taken particular aim at women, among other groups, and is fighting to roll back women’s rights to an era when women were routinely treated as less worthy than their male counterparts.
Women have seen concerted attacks on their access to reproductive health care; on health care for families and particularly children; on their children’s access to strong public education programs, including sex education; and on their potential to receive equal pay for equal work.
Nor have we seen this Republican hostility to women only at the national level. On the issue of early child care and education, funding for Head Start has been cut in Maine. This move drives many women out of the workforce since they often can’t afford the price of child care.
And what about those employed in the child care industry? Ninety-eight percent are women, and in 2011 Maine’s Republican Legislature stripped child care providers of collective bargaining rights.
Such attacks on the fundamental rights of workers are now widespread in Maine. For example, in 2011 the governor mounted a raid on teacher retirement plans that drastically reduced benefits and health insurance for retirees (again, predominantly women). And in 2011 the GOP defeated a measure that would have increased the minimum wage by 25 cents per hour, while also attempting to weaken public employee unions’ ability to represent their members.
Women in Maine have seen the health care safety net dismantled as MaineCare is curtailed and access is restricted. “By their deeds ye shall know them” (Matthew, 12:50).
The Republican war on the “other” – women, the poor, teachers and other public employees – is well under way, and they make no bones about it.
Is this how we want our state to be?
We all win when we are treated as valued human beings, no matter our age, our gender, our religious creed, our ethnic heritage or our individual ability to contribute to society. But it’s clear that in the eyes of the Republican leadership, many people in our communities have lesser value. Women are one of the largest targets this political year. In fact, women are well represented in every group coming under attack. We are not so myopic as to miss the connections between child care and women, health care and women, and equality in the workplace and women.
In short, “sitting down” is not an option this year. As Mainers, and as Maine women, we still have the right to vote. Republican efforts to suppress the vote failed in Maine this year. Given the trends in other states where the Republican Party holds the seats of power, we should expect to see this effort again in Maine, masquerading as an effort to combat (nonexistent) voter fraud. That is if the Republican candidates for office are elected to those seats on Nov. 6.
This year is not the year to think, “My vote won’t matter” or, “They’re all alike, it won’t matter who wins.” This year it matters more than ever. Take a good look at the record the Republican administration in Augusta has compiled in the last two years. Then look at the national trends, and you will see more of the same for women and other targeted groups in the future unless voters send a clear message that this “government by exclusion” is not supported by the people of Maine.
Maude March, of Seal Harbor, has lived and worked on Mount Desert Island for 45 years. She volunteers and works for many nonprofits.
Yeah…the war on women!!! What a joke! If you need contraceptives for a medical condition I support it…if you need them just to go party and have your sex…buy your own.
The GOP wants to allow any employer to control what prescription drugs are covered under a health insurance plan that employer offers (typically on a cost-sharing basis with the employees). I pay for health insurance for my employees and can’t imagine telling them what medical services they can choose. If you worked for me, I wouldn’t ban you from getting your much-needed Viagra prescription!
The Blunt amendment would allow a Muslim employer to impose Sharia law on what type of health care choices his employees made. Ryan and Romney both came out in favor of the Blunt amendment. This is insanity.
Hey, I don’t need viagra. How about the cash instead?
I’m a man and I am against any health plan paying for Viagra.
Your “Muslim employer” is a straw man argument. If they are going to try and impose sharia law with regard to health coverage I’m sure they would be doing the same with other aspects of employment. Anyone who works for such an employer is just plain STUPID. Quit and get a different job.
What business is it of any employer to peer into the medicine cabinet of his employees? If the plan covers prescription drugs, the choice of drugs is between the employee and his doctor.
The Blunt Amendment would have allowed any employer to impose a condition on its health insurance in accordance with the religious or moral beliefs of the employer. It surely would allow an employer to insist upon a Sharia-compliant health insurance plan. Be careful what you wish for.
As for quitting, one must first find a better paying job if one is going to be rational. Rationality is not your strong point today. Your argument is silly.
The Blunt Amendment would not have given any employer any right to “peer into the medicine cabinet of his employees” or to interfere with a doctor and his choice of drugs. Your interpretation is an exaggeration to the point of hyperbole.
Someone who continues to work for an employer who discriminates, intimidates, etc., is the one being silly. I have quit jobs where an employer was a total a**h0le.
The Blunt Amendment allowed any employer to restrict the coverage of an employment-related health insurance plan to conform with the employer’s religious or moral beliefs. That literally would have allowed such an employer to refuse to cover any prescription drug of his choice. Do you really want an employer to have that power?
If the employer is paying for the insurance then yes I do want them to have that power.
Note, the amendment would only allow the employer to decide what prescriptions are paid for and would in no way actually stop a doctor from prescribing any drug they and the patient agree on.
By the way, this exact situation presently exists with both Medicare and Medicaid where the government refuses to pay for particular drugs.
I’m generally against employer provided health insurance period. I would prefer that employers give employes the money they are spending on insurance and that people use that money to buy the insurance they want and that best fits their needs.
Your logic would be identical if the employer paid wages from which the employee could purchase health insurance: either the health insurance premium or the wages come originally from the employer and benefit the employee. You would allow an employer to say: “If I find you are spending this salary on birth control you are fired.”
The logic of employer-purchased health insurance is the power of any collective purchase. Have you ever tried to buy an individual policy?
Medicare prescription drug coverage is strictly in the hands of the private insurer subsidized in Medicare Part D. The government has no role in what drugs that private insurer allows. Get your facts straight. The only decision Medicaid makes, on a state-by-state basis, is to insist on the generic equivalent. This is no different than any private insurer insisting on a lower cost treatment option.
Cost based decisions are the marketplace at work. Morality-based decisions are an imposition of the employer’s religious choice on the employee.
Oh my, more misogyny. Try profligate procreation by overly possessive males, including within marriage.
You do know that sex is a basic human instinct right? Controlling sex is very hard to do, almost impossible. People have sex, why? because they can not control that urge, we are designed not to control that urge. To try and control it is to go against nature.
I think this has been covered before: http://goo.gl/nrmsX
If Maude March thinks the most important issue facing this country is the “war on women,” she is free to throw away her vote
Seal Harbor, old money, new money, limousine liberal, hatred of Republicans, limited intellect – hard to believe.
You’d best turn that mirror aside when you start talking about other’s intellect. Maud writes better than you. Might you have any criticism of her ideas?
Given your Dick, Jane, and Sally style of writing, I suppose Maude would seem pretty cerebral to you.
Edit inspired by HT Bob’s passion for accuracy…
It’s Maude.
Thanks for your excellent pedantry, Bob.
Happy to point you in the right direction.
I think you just have one of those vacant smiles anyway, Bob.
Yeah, not getting it.
And you probably never will…
Argument by insult is a tacit admission of one’s paucity of ideas.
Ugh. One of you has class, and it ain’t you.
Bob, let’s be honest – you wouldn’t know class if it kicked you right in your pantyhose.
Pantyhose? You are still living in the 90’s I see. Makes sense.
We’ve asked a hundred million time not to exaggerate (or stereotype).
Thank you Ms. March. It’s great that women (and men) of all ages recognize the need to continue the fight to uphold equal rights, the cornerstone of the Constitution of the United States.
Maude, I support you. I know the GOP War on Women IS real. Bill after bill giving a blob of cells “personhood” that is more important than mine, bills trying to repeal equal pay for equal work, bills that would outlaw most safe and effective birth control, bills that redefine rape, bills that take away abortion even if the life or health of the mother is at risk or a woman has been raped, bills that outlaw in vitro fertilization, bills that weaken protection for the victims of domestic violence. It is a LOT more than who pays or does not pay for contraception. It is a systematic, consistent attack on women’s phycial and economic well-being.
The people that say the War on Women isn’t real are usually the ones perpetrating it.
How about if you supply some examples of bills that “would outlaw most safe and effective birth control”.
The “personhood” amendment would effectively outlaw the pill and IUDs. One of the ways in which these contraceptives work is to prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus. You can learn more about contraceptives and how they work by googling it.
This article is an example of what happens then one overdoses on left wing Kool-aid. The brain gets waterlogged and rational thought is suppressed.
There is NO war on women from the right. The war on women is ALL coming from the left. Just like racism, sexism, age discrimination, class warfare, and homophobia. They are all from the left, and are all used exclusively for political gain. If you’re too blind to realize than, then you’ve overdosed on left wing Kool-aid.
Ignore.
MBE
Quite the list, all attributable to the Rs/TPers and their fellow travelers. For political gain too. Oh yeah, rational thought appears not to be one of their attributes.
I’m really amazed at the vitriol, venom, and worse that these two neighboring OpEd pieces have spawned. A lot of the H word and misogyny exhibited. No, make that misanthropy. Keep it up, guys (and I assume that you’ve all been guys so far), degrading yourselves even further.
I voted for Hillary….did you?
Didn’t have the opportunity since I’m not a member of either party. Probably would have voted for her if she was the Democratic candidate since I couldn’t favor McCain/Palin.
So, does this factoid make you a champion of women?
Argument by insult is a tacit admission of one’s paucity of ideas.
I have nine employees.
Very gross and stereotyped insult by Milo.
Sadly, this is what Milo thinks passes for discourse.
I have always had concerns if contraception is really “Medical Care”. (Viagra for that matter.)
If it is, then is your daily vitamin tablet or a breakfast cereal that promotes good colon health? If these differ exactly how?
Birth control pills aren’t always used for contraception. They are also used for everything from acne to treatment of debilitating endometriosis. Hormones like this are completely different than vitamins.
Ok So write a prescription for the disease.
Yes because getting pregnant is not an medical condition what requires medical attention.
Would you rephrase please?
Does getting pregnant require medical attention? Yes, Yes it does. I am pretty sure that people that are pregnet go to the doctors, not because it voluntary.
Colon cancer for certain is not voluntary. Should my insurer pay for my high fibre breakfast cereal because it has proved to reduce incidence of that particular cancer?
Birth control is preventive medicine and is no different than medication for high blood pressure. It helps forestall more expensive medical treatment later and eliminates the risk of death during childbirth. Your later reference to high fiber cereal misses the point: we are talking about prescription medication. Neither condoms nor a good diet are covered as medicine.
So its a matter of what defines medicine?
med·i·cine [med-uh-sin or, especially Brit., med-suhn] Show IPA noun, verb, med·i·cined, med·i·cin·ing.
noun 1. any substance or substances used in treating disease or illness; medicament; remedy.
2. the art or science of restoring or preserving health or due physical condition, as by means of drugs, surgical operations or appliances, or manipulations: often divided into medicine proper, surgery, and obstetrics.
3. the art or science of treating disease with drugs or curative substances, as distinguished from surgery and obstetrics.
Wouldn’t that then mean that there is an illness?
Illness:
noun 1. the general condition of the body or mind with reference to soundness and vigor: good health; poor health.
2. soundness of body or mind; freedom from disease or ailment: to have one’s health; to lose one’s health.
Is pregnancy therefore an Illness?
Merriam-Webster online dictionary, definition 3 of medicine: “a substance (as a drug or potion) used to treat something other than disease.” Case closed.
Then All-Bran Cereal could be considered a “medicine.”
Cereal is neither a drug nor a potion. We have a Food and Drug Administration and, among those of us who speak English, we know the difference between a food and a drug.
Get back to me once you have tried to survive for a week on contraceptives, alone, followed by trying to survive for a week on All-Bran Cereal, alone.
You will then join the English-speaking world and know the difference between a food and a drug.
We will help you celebrate your new-found knowledge.
Illnesses are often associated with it and even if not, it is a medical condition.
You split hairs, comrade.
I probably should define my problem a little clearer before you make too many assumptions about where I am coming from.
Just as I don’t believe the costs should be passed on to me for your high fiber cereal or cough medicine or eating broccoli or any number of choices people make neither do I think that the cost of birth control should be passed on to me either.
Make your own decisions about your life. Don’t make me pay for it.
You must then reject the entire idea of insurance, which ultimately has some rate-payers contributing to medical care for others, whether through private or public programs.
I eat well, have never smoked, almost never drink alcohol, and have an exercise program that, when I took a VO2 maximum test ten years ago, showed that I had the cardiovascular system of a very fit athlete thirty years younger than I was.
I don’t know your health habits, but if you have ever smoked, are overweight, drink alcohol or don’t get much exercise, then I will, through my Medicare taxes, be paying for your health care needs when you turn 65.
Feel free to thank me.
No, I don’t object to insurance. I object to having to pay for something that is optional for a large segment of the population.
Oh silly boy, you don’t know when to stop digging.
You have, through group health insurance, paid for someone else’s optional pregnancy for the entire time you have been insured. The women in that same insurance pool have paid for your optional prostate screenings. By paying for optional contraceptive coverage, your premium will be decreased, as you will be paying for fewer unintended pregnancies. Every actuary who has looked at this has confirmed the cost savings. This coverage is saving you money, yet you claim to be “paying for” it. Might it be that you disapprove of people having sex? Your hidden Church Lady is coming out. If you dig any further, the walls of the hole around you will collapse.
Contraception, or more likely lack of it, has medical, health and societal consequences. As pointed out elsewhere, their use has some direct medical uses as well.
So “much-needed Viagra prescription!” is not argument by insult and passes for discourse? Sadly, you are a hypocrite. Nine employees? Not likely.
Note that Homemaine was not insulted, but understood the gentle humor. His post below states: “Hey I don’t need viagra. How about the cash instead?”
Note, as well, that my post to which you objected actually contained two distinct arguments.
The problem with your posts, Milo, is that they almost never contain argument, which is a tacit admission of the paucity of your ideas.
You’re dissembling. How pathetic.
Wake us up when you are ready to rise above ad hominem attacks. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
You must realize that you now sound desperate. You’re reasonably clever, even if your only talent is sophistry, and it’s painful to see you devolve to Frank Burns from MASH.
The reason Romney is surging in the polls is due to the increase in support from women. Intelligent women don’t fall for liberal scare tactics and lies. Liberals apparently believe women are pretty stupid, so they continue to perpetuate this silly “war on women” ploy. If this is all you got, you ain’t got much.
If you really want to stand up for women who need a job and a future for their children and grandchildren – you would vote for Romney.
Huh?
As a woman I will stand up for all women born and unborn.