ok so we're getting it from that $3000? Divided by three. That's cost of contraception, notice. Nothing there about oral contraceptives. So an average, across many students, some of whom may get injections, implants or IUDs. Maybe some of the implants need to be removed on an emergency basis. Other patients may get bleeding episodes from the hormones, or some other expensive side effects. It is *not* just oral contraceptives, it's cost of contraception, in other words also including lab tests, doctor visits, well woman exams.... they don't just hand you the pills.
More to the point, focusing on that number is just an attempt to deflect the actual meaning of her statement, which is that her friend's insurance isn't paying for medical care because they suspect that sex might be involved. And that the school does not subsidize this insurance at all. If both of those statements are true then the situation is wrong no matter how you construe it. I don't see how you can construe a First Amendment right to dictate health care you aren't paying for. On Sun, Mar 4, 2012 at 12:27 PM, Larry C. Lyons <larrycly...@gmail.com>wrote: > > For the record here is the transcript of Ms. Fluke's testimony before > Pelosi's hearing: > > http://abcnews.go.com/images/Politics/statement-Congress-letterhead-2nd%20hearing.pdf > > > Leader Pelosi, Members of Congress, good morning, and thank you for > calling this > hearing on womens health and allowing me to testify on behalf of the > women who > will benefit from the Affordable Care Act contraceptive coverage > regulation. My > name is Sandra Fluke, and Im a third year student at Georgetown Law, a > Jesuit > school. Im also a past president of Georgetown Law Students for > Reproductive > Justice or LSRJ. Id like to acknowledge my fellow LSRJ members and > allies and > all of the student activists with us and thank them for being here today. > > Georgetown LSRJ is here today because were so grateful that this > regulation > implements the nonpartisan, medical advice of the Institute of > Medicine. I attend a > Jesuit law school that does not provide contraception coverage in its > student health > plan. Just as we students have faced financial, emotional, and medical > burdens as a > result, employees at religiously affiliated hospitals and universities > across the > country have suffered similar burdens. We are all grateful for the new > regulation > that will meet the critical health care needs of so many women. > Simultaneously, > the recently announced adjustment addresses any potential conflict with the > religious identity of Catholic and Jesuit institutions. > > When I look around my campus, I see the faces of the women affected, and I > have > heard more and more of their stories. . On a daily basis, I hear > from yet another > woman from Georgetown or other schools or who works for a religiously > affiliated employer who has suffered financial, emotional, and medical > burdens > because of this lack of contraceptive coverage. And so, I am here to > share their > voices and I thank you for allowing them to be heard. > > Without insurance coverage, contraception can cost a woman over $3,000 > during > law school. For a lot of students who, like me, are on public > interest scholarships, > thats practically an entire summers salary. Forty percent of > female students at > Georgetown Law report struggling financially as a result of this > policy. One told > us of how embarrassed and powerless she felt when she was standing at the > pharmacy counter, learning for the first time that contraception > wasnt covered, > and had to walk away because she couldnt afford it. Women like her have > no > choice but to go without contraception. Just last week, a married > female student > told me she had to stop using contraception because she couldnt > afford it any longer. Women employed in low wage jobs without > contraceptive coverage face the same choice. > > You might respond that contraception is accessible in lots of other ways. > Unfortunately, thats not true. Womens health clinics provide vital > medical > services, but as the Guttmacher Institute has documented, clinics are > unable to > meet the crushing demand for these services. Clinics are closing and > women are > being forced to go without. How can Congress consider the Fortenberry, > Rubio, > and Blunt legislation that would allow even more employers and > institutions to > refuse contraceptive coverage and then respond that the non-profit > clinics should > step up to take care of the resulting medical crisis, particularly when so > many > legislators are attempting to defund those very same clinics? > > These denials of contraceptive coverage impact real people. In the > worst cases, > women who need this medication for other medical reasons suffer dire > consequences. A friend of mine, for example, has polycystic ovarian > syndrome > and has to take prescription birth control to stop cysts from growing > on her ovaries. > Her prescription is technically covered by Georgetown insurance > because its not > intended to prevent pregnancy. Under many religious institutions > insurance plans, > it wouldnt be, and under Senator Blunts amendment, Senator Rubios bill, > or > Representative Fortenberrys bill, theres no requirement that an > exception be > made for such medical needs. When they do exist, these exceptions dont > accomplish their well-intended goals because when you let university > administrators or other employers, rather than women and their doctors, > dictate > whose medical needs are legitimate and whose arent, a womans health > takes a > back seat to a bureaucracy focused on policing her body. > > In sixty-five percent of cases, our female students were interrogated > by insurance > representatives and university medical staff about why they needed these > prescriptions and whether they were lying about their symptoms. For my > friend, > and 20% of women in her situation, she never got the insurance company to > cover > her prescription, despite verification of her illness from her doctor. > Her claim was > denied repeatedly on the assumption that she really wanted the birth > control to > prevent pregnancy. Shes gay, so clearly polycystic ovarian syndrome > was a much > more urgent concern than accidental pregnancy. After months of paying > over $100 > out of pocket, she just couldnt afford her medication anymore and had to > stop > taking it. I learned about all of this when I walked out of a test > and got a message > from her that in the middle of her final exam period shed been in the > emergency > room all night in excruciating pain. She wrote, It was so painful, I > woke up > thinking Id been shot. Without her taking the birth control, a > massive cyst the > size of a tennis ball had grown on her ovary. She had to have surgery > to remove > her entire ovary. On the morning I was originally scheduled to give > this testimony, > she sat in a doctors office. Since last years surgery, shes been > experiencing night > sweats, weight gain, and other symptoms of early menopause as a result > of the removal of her ovary. Shes 32 years old. As she put it: If > my body indeed does enter early menopause, no fertility specialist in > the world will be able to help me have my own children. I will have > no chance at giving my mother her desperately > desired grandbabies, simply because the insurance policy that I paid > for totally > unsubsidized by my school wouldnt cover my prescription for birth > control when I > needed it. Now, in addition to potentially facing the health > complications that > come with having menopause at an early age-- increased risk of cancer, > heart > disease, and osteoporosis, she may never be able to conceive a child. > > Perhaps you think my friends tragic story is rare. Its not. One > woman told us > doctors believe she has endometriosis, but it cant be proven without > surgery, so > the insurance hasnt been willing to cover her medication. Recently, > another friend > of mine told me that she also has polycystic ovarian syndrome. Shes > struggling to > pay for her medication and is terrified to not have access to it. Due > to the barriers > erected by Georgetowns policy, she hasnt been reimbursed for her > medication > since last August. I sincerely pray that we dont have to wait until > she loses an > ovary or is diagnosed with cancer before her needs and the needs of > all of these > women are taken seriously. > > This is the message that not requiring coverage of contraception sends. A > womans reproductive healthcare isnt a necessity, isnt a priority. > One student > told us that she knew birth control wasnt covered, and she assumed thats > how > Georgetowns insurance handled all of womens sexual healthcare, so when > she > was raped, she didnt go to the doctor even to be examined or tested > for sexually > transmitted infections because she thought insurance wasnt going to cover > something like that, something that was related to a womans > reproductive health. > As one student put it, this policy communicates to female students > that our school > doesnt understand our needs. These are not feelings that male > fellow students > experience. And theyre not burdens that male students must shoulder. > > In the media lately, conservative Catholic organizations have been asking: > what > did we expect when we enrolled at a Catholic school? We can only > answer that we > expected women to be treated equally, to not have our school create > untenable > burdens that impede our academic success. We expected that our schools > would > live up to the Jesuit creed of cura personalis, to care for the whole > person, by > meeting all of our medical needs. We expected that when we told our > universities > of the problems this policy created for students, they would help us. > We expected > that when 94% of students opposed the policy, the university would respect > our > choices regarding insurance students pay for completely unsubsidized by the > university. We did not expect that women would be told in the > national media that > if we wanted comprehensive insurance that met our needs, not just those of > men, > we should have gone to school elsewhere, even if that meant a less > prestigious > university. We refuse to pick between a quality education and our > health, and weresent that, in the 21 > st century, anyone thinks its acceptable to ask us to make this > choice simply because we are women. > > Many of the women whose stories Ive shared are Catholic women, so > ours is not a > war against the church. It is a struggle for access to the healthcare > we need. The > President of the Association of Jesuit Colleges has shared that Jesuit > colleges and > universities appreciate the modification to the rule announced last > week. Religious > concerns are addressed and women get the healthcare they need. That is > something > we can all agree on. Thank you. > ----------------------- > > So where is the demand for free contraceptive services? Where is the > claim she needs thousands for condoms? In both cases they are lies. > And shame on you Sam for promoting those lies. > > > -- > Larry C. Lyons > web: http://www.lyonsmorris.com/lyons > LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/larryclyons > > There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always > has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant > thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, > nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ig > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:347927 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
