So, we got ourselves some semblance of health care reform now, right? At least, the bill passed in the House (thanks for nothing Congressman Gallegly), and now it’s up to the Senate to give America what the rest of the civilized world already has — a way to ensure that no citizen dies while seeking appropriate medical care. Or is turned down for a pre-existing condition like pregnancy or asthma or erectile dysfunction. 

But wait: One of those isn’t like the other. Guess which one!

You see, that fabulous bill, while a long overdue landmark of — and I’m saying it again as an immigrant from a country that has had this legislation since before I was born — basic civilization and social contract, went flaccid very quickly, thanks to Mr. Stupak. Because it doesn’t really cover pregnancy, at least not in any of its forms that require drastic means to save a mother’s life.  

No, I’m not talking about the conservative stereotype of the welfare queen who’d rather spend her government check on Twinkies than on the “pill” and then takes her sob story to Planned Parenthood for the nth time. I’m talking about the girl next door to someone you know — that 12-year-old who’s being raped by her uncle. That college freshman who, on her way to the library, is dragged behind the Social Sciences building by a pack of drunk frat boys. That mother of two who’s six months along and on bed rest with extreme pre-eclampsia , facing the possibility of a stroke any day now. And also that couple who’ve spent thousands of dollars on fertility treatments only to find out that their fetus doesn’t have a brain (i.e. has anencephaly) or has already died in utero and is now threatening to send the mother’s body into septic shock.

Think people like that don’t live in your community? How sure can you be? 

The point is, if you have a wife, a mother, a sister, a cousin, niece, aunt, a female coworker, or even your favorite female barista at the coffee shop, I will bet you my daughter’s tricycle that you know someone who’s being screwed over by this amendment — an amendment which precludes any insurance companies participating in the planned federal exchange from helping pay for D&Cs that save women’s lives. An amendment on which your elected representative, Mr. Elton Gallegly, voted “yay” week before week.

So, fine, there are those who say that our current Social Security system wasn’t built in one day, heck, not even in one decade, and that good things take their time. I’m completely on board with that. Let’s first focus on the essentials of what a health care bill needs. These include coverage for life-saving procedures and prophylactic measures for both, men and women, and respect the First Amendment which mandates the separation of church and state. We’re talking anything here, from cancer therapies and heart transplants to flu shots and, yes, those very few medically and psychologically indicated pregnancy terminations. After we’ve thusly covered the bare bones of health care, let’s then extend the coverage to any elective cosmetic procedures like circumcisions and drugs like Viagra or anti-baldness tinctures, neither of which contribute directly to saving a person’s life.

Still not convinced? Fine. Let’s talk about pro-life, then, and what it means to defend the right to life in any circumstance, for anyone, women included. Or let’s talk about what the Stupak amendment would look like if men carried babies to term? Or what the consequence will be of back-alley coathanger procedures requiring extensive emergency care?

A bill is only as good as the people it protects. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” asks Cain in the Book of Genesis. “Yes, you are,” most of us would respond. In America, we are each other’s keepers. Time for Mr. Gallegly and his old boys’ network in D.C. to get the message, too.

Charlotte Eden gives thanks for the 2008 presidential election and can be reached at charlotte@verbalicon.info. “The Forward View” is a progressive look at local issues that runs every Wednesday. For information, call 736-1897 or e-mail at howerton62@aol.com.