I'm angry. And it isn't from the mood swings. I've been following the health care debate very closely since it was first being debated in the House last fall. Today is a big day-the House is set to vote on the Senate bill which DOES use tax payer money to fund abortions. But this post isn't about my opinion of the health care bill (I hate it by the way-our country can do WAY better) or even about the tragedy that is abortion (also hate it-this goes without saying). This anger I'm feeling right now is over the fact that abortion can be covered under ANY insurance policy, period. It doesn't matter if it's federally funded or from private pay-covering abortions under "health care" policies is absolute insanity.
Even if you actually support the "right" for a mother to kill her unborn child or think this health care nonsense is a good idea, follow me for a minute here. A baby's conception is the direct result of a man and a woman's properly functioning reproductive system. Babies are what happens when two fertile people have sex-it's as simple as that. A baby isn't a disease, a disorder, or a symptom. Women who get pregnant (and then abort their baby) have great progesterone and estrogen levels. Their ovaries are producing eggs that mature completely and erupt as they are supposed to. Their uteruses have plenty of healthy lining to support a growing baby. Their ovaries aren't covered with endo or PCOS. And their partner obviously had all of his parts working properly as well! All of the things us infertile women would die to have! These women have NOTHING wrong with their bodies (fertility speaking). Yet, insurance companies will actually pay for a healthy, fertile woman to stop the natural process that comes from her choice to have sex.
I, on the other hand, do have something wrong with my body. I'm filled with endometriosis and empty follicles that don't erupt completely. I have an actual medical condition. And what does my insurance company pay for? Nothing. Zip. Nada. Not a penny. I have a stack of Explanation of Benefits marked with "Denied-Not a Covered Service" big enough to wallpaper our living room! They must love getting claims from me-they know they won't have to pay a cent! Something inside of me isn't working correctly and they refuse to help me fix it. However, if everything inside of me started working correctly and I got pregnant, they would happily cover the cost for me to kill my baby.
Does anyone else see the irony in this??
Perfect fertility-don't want a baby: Covered!
Actual diseases, disorders, and symptoms of infertility-desperately want a baby: Not covered!
And it doesn't stop there. We also had to pay out of pocket for every visit and test that Ted went through when we did his semen analysis. He doesn't even have a problem-we were just checking! Insurance denied every single claim. Had Ted really had a problem with his FSH, motility, or something else-our insurance would still not have paid a dime. Now, flash forward 30 years. Ted's having problems "getting it up" (for lack of a better term). For purely reasons of our desire for pleasure he consults a urologist (let's even say that it's the exact same urologist he saw for his S/A-who was a jerk). Lo and behold! Viagra! And our wonderful, generous, and helpful insurance company steps up and foots the bill. They're so kind!
So what have we learned?
"Male problem" that interferes with pleasure: Covered!
"Male problem" that interferes with procreation: Not covered!
This just makes me sick. I try not to get too mad about when I'm writing the thousandth check to a doctor or hospital. But at the same time, God wants us to be mad about this. It's not ok. It's not part of His plan. I believe he wants us to be outraged about the evil and injustices of the world. Especially as they relate to the question of human life.
And it's not about the money. It's really not. More than I would like to see insurance companies coming to their senses and covering fertility treatment, I would like them to stop covering abortions and treating them like "health care". I will happily spend every last penny I have trying to get pregnant if it means that women who are already pregnant will be encouraged to choose life and not have their abortion paid for by me and the rest of the American taxpayers.
So what am I going to do about it? Well, first off, I'm going to continue to pray for the conversion of our country and all those who willingly take the life of an unborn child. And secondly, I'm going to call every one of the numbers below this afternoon and beg them to vote "no" on this health care atrocity that will results in the lives of countless more babies being killed.
God help us.
Pro-life Democrats that are undecided on how they will vote:
Marion Bery (AR) 202-225-4076
Kathy Dahlkemper (PA) 202-225-5406
Daniel Lipinski (IL) 202-225-5701
Earl Pomeroy (ND) 202-225-2611
Nick Rahall (WV) 202-225-3452
Bart Stupak (MI)202-225-4744
Steve Driehaus (OH) 202-225-2216
Joe Donnelly (IN) 202-225-3915
Jerry Costello (IL) 202-225-5661
March Kaptur (OH) 202-225-4146
Paul Kanjorski (PA) 202-225-6511
Alan Mollohan (WV) 202-225-4172
Mike Michaud (ME) 202-225-6306
Vic Snyder (AR) 202-225-2506
Harry Teague 202-225-2365
Ugh is right. Did you just see that they announced (at least on Fox News) that Stupak and Obama agreed on some executive order to ban abortion funding? But then I just saw that one of the Republicans during the debate on the house floor was saying that it doesn't matter, executive orders can't overturn the law of the land and this bill would become the law of the land. ARRRRRRGGHH!!!!! I am just so frustrated about this whole thing (and your points above as well are further infuriating!).
ReplyDeleteOn another note though, can you talk with your (or Ted's) HR departments and see if they would consider covering some endo / infertility treatments. My insurance covers up to $10,000 for infertility, but I didn't think that endo would even be considered infertility, infertility is a symptom, endo is an actual disease and that it would be covered like any other disease! That is crazy that it is not covered.
Okay, I am off to have some chips and salsa...yes, I eat when I am stressed and today is one big twisted knot of stress, and oh yeah, to top it off, my Badgers lost. :(
Eeek-I didn't realize I was misleading about my endo. Yes, insurance covered the surgery-but denied covereage for the fertility parts of it (HSG,etc). Since my NaPro doctor was out of network I requested an out-of-network reveiw which was denied because "there are plenty of OBs who could do the EXACT same thing in my network". Ha! I should add, however, that I'm very grateful that my insurance covered a portion of the cost for my surgery. Didn't mean to sound ungrateful!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, JBTC, I saw that coverage. I'm so sad.
And the Tigers lost today too!
Kaitlin, this is so well worded that I think you should SERIOUSLY consider submitting it - to your local diocesan newspaper if you have one, to your local public newspapers (even though they probably won't publish it), and I'm going to say even to Fox News. They publish stuff like this all the time! You are right on here, girl, and MANY MANY people agree with you. In fact, according to polls, more than HALF of the nation. You go girl!
ReplyDeleteI have never heard anyone put it that way! Thank you so much for writing this. It makes no sense and is so sad! Praying for our country today.
ReplyDeleteThis is all very true and very sad. When I was in school, I remember the big debate was on Viagra being covered and not birth control – viewed as sexism. I never saw the debate there (both optional, not necessary, not health related IMO), but here is a completely different situation.
ReplyDeleteYes, the EO is nothing IMO. It can be taken back as easily as it is given and does not have the same effect as legislation. (Remember Obama’s first act as president was to repeal many of the EOs Bush instituted.) It was a constituent-pleasing move (I believe), not one meant for a substantive legal effect.
That's a great point about the irony of what is covered and what isn't. It's completely ridiculous!
ReplyDeleteI feel like you stole the words right out of my mouth. DH and I were just discussing this as we sorted through my mountain of bills that of course are not covered by my insurance. And the real kicker...if all of this works out and I am able to get pregnant my insurance will not cover maternity either. Sick isn't it?
ReplyDeleteThis has frustrated me forever, they'll even pay for a tubal but not IF treatments or surgery....argh. My insurance won't even pay for a Lap..........gotta love that. Fertiltiy isn't a condition that needs fixing.....
ReplyDeleteI agree you should submit this to a newspaper or twelve. National papers, too!
ReplyDeleteI agree that you should submit this to newspapers. The state of our healthcare just depresses me! I've been so down since the vote on Sunday night. I have no confidence in our nation. Coming from my perspective, the medical culture just assumes that sex is used only for pleasure and pregnancy is something to be prevented. Doctors even go to the extreme to tell their patients when they should stop having children. (i.e. after a certain age, after so many C-sections, they ask if you want your tubal after you get your boy and girl). Seriously, most doctors feel like they are doing a GREAT service by handing out contraception and offering abortion to teens. As long as they don't get pregnant.....they don't even address the bad effects of having sex before marriage. I tell my patients that depression is a sexually transmitted disease. It's been shown that those who have pre-marital sex have a higher rate of depression. I could go on forever, but have to stop somewhere.
ReplyDeleteYou make excellent points in this post! It is so true and so sad that this healthcare bill is now law. I just stumbled across your blog and have to say that I love that you label yourself as "unapologetically catholic"! I just had a blog post that I wrote about why I will not do IVF or IUIs and really got ripped about my catholic beliefs as being offensive. It bothered me for a few days, but in the end, we cannot apologize for our faith! Sorry..have gone off on a tangent! Looking forward to reading your blog! :)
ReplyDelete