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  Date / Time: 7/23/2009 1:41 AM UTC

  Health Care & Abortion
  

  It seems that the political naysayers have found yet another way to tug the heartstrings and cynically spin religion into our debate over health care reform. Not that they aren't raising valid concerns, but Rep. Stupak and Pitts are only pandering to an easily-identifiable majority when they bring abortion into the health care debate; it's controversial, guaranteed a response due to most people's unchanging opinions over it, and for the most part, difficult to prove a point from either side.
  
  
  Their argument, predictably, is that honest, pro-life folks shouldn't have to pay for something to which they're morally opposed. That's all well and good, but it should be noted that the bill doesn't mention abortion simply because not enough happen to make a difference on the budget sheet; that's like trying to anticipate severe reactions to bee stings. Indeed, what we're seeing is an opposition not on grounds of fiscal conservatism, but on those strictly ideological in nature.
  
  
  Currently, we spend roughly 38% of my tax dollars on "defense" (in other words, the war effort); I'm EXTREMELY opposed to that, and I don't hear any congressman or woman fighting for MY views in the arena. My advice to you guys who are worried about paying an extra 2% to go towards health care that MIGHT include abortion: cry me a [impossible to find an appropriate, clean expletive] river, because if you think you have a hard time sleeping at night over the notion of a few pre-natal terminations, imagine how pacifists feel about funding death overseas. No matter how bad Rush Limbaugh tells you your taxes will get, you won't be paying 30% for abortions, so suck it up.
  
  
  In all fairness, however, it IS reasonable to bring these oppositions up; ideally, one should be able to oppose the things one despises and withhold funding as a result. I would suggest, since those of you who are "pro-life" (won't believe it until you become a pacifist vegan fruitarian) are quite vocal in your expression, perhaps making sure that what you buy already doesn't fund things that are contrary to the proliferation of life. A few examples:
  
  
  Diamonds. Much more expensive than you might imagine, as most come at the cost of human life and/or suffering at the hands of militant rebels intent on selling the gems to Westerners in order to fund their respective military campaigns against their governments. Buy a diamond for that new wife of yours and you can see the face of every child for whose death it's responsible reflected in every flawless facet. Even if a diamond wasn't directly responsible for death, you can be sure that the 8-year-old who dug it up lives under constant threat of death and works in the most brutal of conditions, almost always staring down a barrel of a U.S.-made automatic weapon.
  
  
  Oil. The big oil companies like Shell, Chevron, and Exxon are some of the worst human-rights violators on the planet, and all so they can get your precious petroleum to you at a reasonable cost - for them, not you. For example, Shell faces charges now in the murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa, a Nigerian author and activist who was extremely vocal in his opposition to the inhumane practices that allowed foreigners to profit off the oil-rich region while keeping the native population in extreme poverty. Charges have also been brought against Shell and Exxon for allowing abusive practices by the paid soldiers who guard their facilities. Next time you buy a gallon of gas, consider that it paid some hired-gun thug to rape a young girl in Indonesia.
  
  
  A few companies that deserve an honorable mention:
  
  
  Caterpillar. We're all about saving American fetuses over here, but Palestinian children killed by Israeli bulldozers specially designed for and supplied to them by Caterpillar just don't make headlines. We seem to have a hard time with sympathy for anyone who's not white or Christian, apparently. When you see a Caterpillar bulldozer on the side of the road repairing a freeway shoulder or otherwise putting your tax dollars to work, consider that a similar model made by the same company killed peace activist Rachell Corrie in 2003 as it tore down a Palestinian home. Many more Palestinians suffered the same fate, but their stories aren't told on this side of the pond because their names don't look easy to pronounce.
  
  
  Kellogg's. A wonderfully upstanding company that supports the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan by charging you $100 per laundry bag and $45 per case of soda. In '05 they were audited by the Pentagon, who questioned over 1.4 billion in overages in charging the American taxpayee, and they've also been accused of providing soldiers with outdated meals and charging us for meals that never existed. Is anyone still reading this, by the way? Does anyone else feel like stopping Kellogg's gross misuse of your tax dollars yet? It would help if they weren't a subsidiary of Haliburton Corp., the gigantic corporate juggernaut that Dick Cheney rode to financial success via a no-bid contract to rebuild a war-torn country.
  
  
  Disney. Everyone thinks these chodes are so awesome; they're not. Aside from the fact that they sell sex to your children under the guise of moral purity, and that the money you pay to take your kids to see Wall-E is likely going to fund the next R-rated monstrosity (under a different studio name, of course) that you're so morally opposed to, the toys they make for McDonald's Happy Meals (and likely just about every other toy they make) are made in a Vietnamese sweatshop where women and children labor for 10 hours a day for about $0.06 an hour. That's about 60 cents a day, and the most basic meal in Vietnam costs about 70.
  
  
  McDonald's. They're on my you-know-what list right now. They've done a lot of horrendous things (as mentioned above), but the one that takes the cake due as far as sheer gall and ignorance is the new commercial in which they depict two black children of dreaming working at McDonald's like it's the best they could/should ever hope for. I couldn't believe it when I saw it, and turned off my TV in disgust.
  
  
  Coca-Cola. Jesus, these guys are trouble. Their products kill, cause diabetes, and acidify our bodies until they plead for mercy. Past all that, however, their collection of water for their Dasani brand regularly depletes impoverished areas' entire potable water supply, often causing disease, starvation, unchecked and deadly bacterial proliferation, and ultimately, death, as exemplified in the case of Plachimada, Kerala. Not many people know this, but their Fanta brand was created during WWII to continue conducting sales in Nazi Germany under a different name so as to not arouse public ire at doing business with Hitler.
  
  
  Netsle. Chocolate isn't nearly as sweet when made from cocoa beans illegally harvested by child laborers forced to work under the most destitute and brutal of conditions. 'Nuff said.
  
  
  To those of you who oppose public health care on the grounds that it might possibly fund something you're morally against, either put up or shut up; I've listed a few similar situations that I would guess you wouldn't possibly condone, so begin boycotting these things and you will certainly have a stronger case when arguing your point.
  
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  Rook
  
  • Tags:
  • health care
  • human rights
  • budget
  • reform
  • opinion
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