The Health Care Bill and America's Stand Against Abortion

By now you know that the House just passed the well known health care bill with 219 votes. This morning it was certain that congress did not have the votes, but a handful of representatives decided to switch sides and push it along. Why?

The final obstacle to passage was cleared a few hours before the vote, when Obama and Democratic leaders reached a compromise with anti-abortion lawmakers whose rebellion had left the outcome in doubt. The president issued an executive order pledging that no federal funds would be used for elective abortion, satisfying Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan and a handful of like-minded lawmakers.

Some of you are thankful for the passing of this bill, while others are upset about it. I try to keep politics out of my blog (these days) since it's not right to mix faith and politics unnecessarily, but let's be sure to keep in mind what a stand was made today concerning the rights of unborn children.

It was close. Really close. A few more votes the other way and we would have allowed the federal government to kill unborn babies with our tax dollars through this bill (I'd rather fund orphanages). While some have been insisting that abortion is a woman's right, others have maintained that an unborn person has the right to live; the passing of today's bill shows a victory for the champions of unborn babies (even if it's bittersweet for those who oppose the bill). Today, we saw career politicians who were willing to break with party lines against a popular president in order to make a stand. No matter how this plays out in your own personal politics, lets remember that it was a very close call for the unborn. Today was a victory for them - and it very nearly went the other way.

How to Talk About Health Care if You Want to Look Dumb (For Both Sides)

1 - Appeal to a Higher Authority

"Look, these doctors approve of Obama's health care plan! That must mean it's good!"

Your opponent probably knows how to use Google, also, and can come up with this one:

"These doctors DON"T support Obama's plan! You should always listen to doctors!"

2 - Discuss Isolated Incidents

"Little Timmy is not covered by this plan - we can't pass it!"

The opposition of this comment can simply say:

"Little Billy doesn't have health insurance - we MUST pass it!"

These sob stories tug at the heartstrings but don't get us closer to knowing what to do.


3 - Quote Pundits Who Agree with You

If you want to change someone's mind be sure not to do it by quoting people that they will not like. That won't help.

"Look! Ann Coulter said it was bad!"

"Look! Michael Moore said it was good!"

This is useless. No one even has to read their opinions to know what these people will say. Quoting them adds nothing to the conversation and few people abandon their convictions so easily because you found support for your side of the argument.

4 - Discuss How it Works in Another Country

"These Canadian health care workers don't like their system! We should avoid it!"

"The British LIKE their system! We should try it!"

Both arguments have been proposed ad nauseam and have successfully nullified each other.


5 - Conspiracy Theories

"Obama is trying to make us a socialist nation!"

"Pharmacautical companies are paying people to protest Obama's health care!"

None of these things really matter in this conversation. No one changes their mind about political ideology because a supposedly sinister plan is afoot.

Unless this is your first day on the internet, you already know that Google can back up any point of view that is out there. Let's move the conversation into the more intellectual side of things.

Who will benefit from this plan? How many people are actually not included in it? Is it worth passing this plan even with those risks? Will it lower the quality of health care for those who already have it? Who will run it and what control will people have over the program if we do not like how it is run? How much will it cost and will it help me if I am laid off? These are good questions that are not being discussed in most public forums. Instead, the usual name calling and irrelevant article linking goes on. Think it through.

(Notice that I'm not telling you how you should feel about this issue. That's your decision - I'm just trying to make the conversation better. If you'd rather call Obama a Socialist or claim that the tri-lateral commission is controlling our health than take your conversation back to 4chan or MySpace where it belongs.)

Good News on the Health Care Bill

I'm not going to do much specific discussion about the Health Care bill on this site - I don't think politics belong behind the pulpit - but I do want to point out something that happened, recently, that I'm glad about.

What's been known as the "end-of-life" provision is being dropped from the bill by "key senators." Yahoo News reports:

A health care bill passed by three House committees allows Medicare to reimburse doctors for voluntary counseling sessions about end-of-life decisions. But critics have claimed the provision could lead to death panels and euthanasia for seniors.

I realize that some pundits have taken this out of context and claimed that the government is trying to set up euthanasia camps and such - I know that it isn't that bad so don't put me in the same category as the over-reactors.

However, I was not happy about this being in the bill. It allows a doctor to be paid simply because they discussed end-of-life therapy - giving doctors incentive to discuss these options with patients when they might have ignored it, otherwise. That's not the kind of incentive I want the government to give people.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments if you think my reaction is appropriate or if I should reconsider this whole thing. Talk to me.

Why Specter's Explanation Fails

I just watched part of a town hall meeting in which Arlen Specter spoke in favor of the proposed health care bill. His words, at the time, focused on abortion. He was telling the uproarious crowd that the plan includes options that do not cover abortions - so you don't have to have abortion coverage in your own plan.

This is not an effective argument. Those who oppose abortion, on grounds that it is murder, will not be happy that their tax dollars will pay for it. It won't matter if it's for the neighbor's pregnancy rather than their own - they don't want to pay for something they consider to be wrong.

Arguments like this baffle me because no one who opposed abortion could possibly be satisfied with them. I would prefer a politician who admits that we disagree on this issue and that one side is going to have to be disappointed. Obviously, I want my side to win, but there is no middle ground on the issue of abortion and its insulting to insist that there is.