I'm With Joe! Part 1

I am trying to come up with concise answers to why- other than the OBVIOUS ORANGE ELEPHANT in the room- why we should elect Joe Biden the Next President.

I decided,the best way, would be to go to to Biden's website and take one part of his initial proposals and discuss what they mean to me.  This IS after all MY BLOG and it is all about ME.

Here goes.  Women's  and healthcare issues;

• Giving Americans a new choice, a public health insurance option like Medicare. If your insurance company isn’t doing right by you, you should have another, better choice — and it should cover contraception and respect our constitutional right to choose.

He's right to try to ease healthcare for all into the mix, I think.  So many of us currently have it as part of an employment benefit, it will take a while to untangle it within our contracts.  The thing I Think about is IF we lose our jobs and thereby our benefits, replacement healthcare should become available right away.  I know, I know, this makes it a two tiered system at present, but  I think phases makes sense on some level.  The choice for contraception should NEVER  EVER be your employers right over you.  ( we used to say if men got pregnant, contraception would be a sacrament)

• Lowering costs so that buying medicine and paying medical bills don’t bankrupt families. You shouldn’t have to choose between putting food on the table or filling your prescriptions. 

I thank GOD- and the City of LA- for my healthcare coverage.  Before we got married and my husband did not have coverage, MOST of his money went toward insulin and diabetic supplies to keep him alive.  Not healthy, just alive.  My current costs make a better life possible for him and by extension our family.  When Nixon made Healthcare a Big FOR Profit entity, he sent us down the road, where only the rich can afford it.

• Working to codify Roe v. Wade.

• Abortion is not new, but thanks to Roe v. Wade, it makes it safe for women who must for whatever reason seek that option.  I am SICK of hearing the cavalier response of men who think that ALL women who seek abortion are doing it for birth control.  I had a fetus die, but not expel and it was causing a toxemia. It almost killed me. I was grateful for the women's health clinic who were able to perform the operation that by law at the time, could NOT have been done in the hospital ( this was years ago and I hope, but do not know if the laws are different, but still  I would not be here typing this and my daughter and grandsons would not be here either.  Roe v. Wade protects women from dying as they did when my grandmother was a young woman and desperate women used cayenne pepper laced knitting needles into their uteruses to try to abort.  

• Side note- I think the anti quarantine crowd screaming about the Government Controlling Their BODY is just more than a wee bit ironic.
  
  
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Supporting the repeal of the Hyde Amendment.
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   See above comments.  Being raped is terrible, your mind and your body are assaulted.  Now you have to carry your rapists baby to term and in SOME states give him "parental rights".  People say "oh then to get an abortion, women will claim rape." NOT if they leave Roe V. Wade ALONE!!!!!

• Reducing our unacceptably high maternal mortality rate, which disproportionately affects women of color. 

There is a health crisis in this country and women of color are, as usual on the short end of the stick.  I do not understand it, I have not really looked into the entire situation enough to speak to it in any informed way.  Suffice it to say, we need to look at WHY and DO SOMETHING.  I am tired of hearing we are the best nation in the world and yet HALF of our population is not getting the care some rich people give their poodles...

• Restoring federal funding for Planned Parenthood, including through Medicaid and Title X. 

Ah, Planned Parenthood.  Did you KNOW, or even CARE that MOST of the services PREVENT unplanned pregnancies?  Did you know they do cancer screenings, both cervical and breast? AND they provide contraceptives to those who need them?  Do you KNOW that, or are you too busy listening to people screaming about BABY KILLERS to pay attention to their REAL mission.  Low cost women's healthcare.  Preventing pregnancy is important. Helping women stay healthy?  More so.

So there it is.  I'm on a quest to evaluate what Joe has to say in these beginning stages of his campaign.  I know the ultimate platform from the Democrats will probably adjust this to encompass all sides of the party.    I am ever hopeful  and 

I'M WITH JOE!