As Health Care Reform Throws Women's Rights Under the Bus, NotUnderTheBus.com Fights Back

Forget what you learned in high school civics class. Government works not through checks and balances but through deal-making and compromises that often put the needs of constituents at the bottom of the priority list...and throws women's rights under the bus.

To get the Senate to agree on a health care reform bill to be voted upon Christmas Eve, concessions were made to one bullish and momentarily powerful anti-choice senator as reported by the Washington Post:

Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) secured the pivotal 60th vote after acceding to the demands of Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) for tighter restrictions on insurance coverage for abortions, along with increased federal aid for his home state and breaks for favored health-care interests.

"Change is never easy, but change is what's necessary in America," Nelson said at a morning news conference, announcing his support as a snowstorm raged outside.

Nelson fails to mention that his brand of "change" puts his interests -- and his state's interests -- far ahead of the interests of the American people. As Gail Collins observes in the New York Times, Nelson "used to be president of an insurance company."

This is not 'we the people.' It's 'we the self-serving.'

As CNN notes:

Nelson had a provision added to the bill requiring the federal government to cover Nebraska's costs for expanded Medicaid coverage after 2016. No other state is currently slated to receive such a benefit.

Real and true "reform" is off the table. Instead, we're getting a brokered deal filled with more of those aforementioned "breaks for favored health care interests" and not what constituents want as indicated by opinion polls.

Gone from the Senate version is a government-run public health insurance option and an expansion of Medicare to Americans as young as age 55.

Plus, women's reproductive health care will be set back decades as abortion rights are thrown under the bus once again.

In terms of the latter, many national organizations are sounding the alarm, issuing news releases and statements and sending out urgent emails.

One website that is serving as a clearinghouse for all efforts to protect a woman's right to choose is NotUnderTheBus.com, which supports and defends women's rights in the national health care reform debate.

In addition to functioning as a news aggregator and media resource center on women's health and reproductive rights, NotUndertheBus.com links to all the major pro-choice petitions circulating on the internet. Plus, it includes pertinent media coverage of women's issues-related content, including this statement from Rush Limbaugh who is appalled by these aspects of basic health care coverage for women.

And there's a page of nearly two dozen suggestions on how you can take action with links to make that happen.

If we're going to be thrown under the bus, let's not be ladylike about it. Kick and scream and make your voice heard.