health care

You, dear senators, have been busy trying to bring about the apocalypse, which doesn’t leave a lot of time for self-care.

Without the destigmatization that occurs when an illness is deemed legitimate, America loses more lives to suicide. Without legislation that protects its constituents, America loses more lives to suicide. The common denominator here is loss, and unfortunately that loss will grow exponentially if the United States fails to see the suicide epidemic for what it is.

Some of Republican senators' discomfort with voting for their health bill is due to groups of frantic activists who have been pummeling the Senate phone lines, showing up at Senate offices, and even staging a “People’s Filibuster” by rallying on the steps of the Capitol. All of them are begging their elected officials to represent the interests of the sick and the poor, not just the rich and powerful.

There is a working group of 14 Republican men and one Republican woman (the woman was added after the outcry about the original all-male revue-style workgroup got loud enough) who are creating the Senate version of the bill in secret. Behind closed doors. No hearings to discuss major points of the law. No input from stakeholder groups like hospitals, patient advocacy groups, doctors, or insurance companies. No input from Senate Democrats.

In a do-nothing Congress that barely manages to pass resolutions supporting cute puppies with big brown eyes (okay, I made that up), the Republican-controlled House of Representatives has managed to vote 63 times to repeal Obamacare. Oddly enough, the last vote I’m aware of was on...wait for it...Groundhog’s Day. Oh, the irony. Have they seen the movie? Bill Murray’s version was much funnier, but even he had to change his ways in order to move forward.

My decision to fix my nose was mine alone. I didn’t feel peer pressure or that I would look awful for the rest of my life without getting it fixed.

My decision to fix my nose was mine alone. I didn’t feel peer pressure or that I would look awful for the rest of my life without getting it fixed.

Thanks to H.B. 2 legislation there are now only 19 clinics in all of Texas—and things are about to get a helluva lot worse.