Saturday, January 12, 2013

How Far We've Come

Yesterday I was talking to my coworker about infertility a bit, and she asked if I thought insurance would soon cover infertility treatments. Coincidentally, later that day was when Representative Phil Gingrey publicly perpetrated the misinformation of the causes of infertility, while at the same time supporting Todd Akin's foot-in-mouth comments about "legitimate rape" (or at least, said Akin was "partly right").

I think I'm most upset about these comments for two reasons.

The first is that he is a House representative. Now, it's not unusual for people in government to "misspeak" or to spread misinformation. But when that misinformation is the basis of potential policy that will affect my body, it concerns me.

Two, it's that he was a GYNECOLOGIST! He was a doctor who specialized in women's bodies! He should know first-hand what kinds of issues women's reproductive systems can have. And the fact that he is spreading misinformation not only as a representative of government but also as someone seemingly well educated in a related field - it infuriates me.

After I read the article, I struck up the discussion of insurance coverage with my coworker again. As long as there are people in government who believe that women are just plain wrong if they think that infertility is an actual disease, there's no way insurance will cover treatments. As long as people like Gingrey perpetuate the myth that "all there is to getting pregnant is to relax," insurance will be more likely to cover $10 bottles of wine before they cover $15,000 IVF.

At least take that $14,990 and send Gingrey back to medical school before he opens his mouth again.

8 comments:

  1. Hi from ICLW. Maybe the men in the government who take viagra, cialis, and the like should have their coverage revoked and told to just relax and they'll be able to have sex.

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    1. It sure would be nice to give them a taste of their own medicine!

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  2. 100% agree with this. And I feel sorry for all the infertile women he must have "counseled" over the years.

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    1. I was thinking about that too. I wonder how many women waited way longer than they should have to seek out an RE's help.

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  3. Right before Todd Adkin made his horrible "legitimate rape" my co-worker was texting me from a family party where three people told her to 'just relax' I suggested she could shut them up by reminding them that rape victims get pregnant -the opposite of being relaxed. When the Akin controversy broke out, I felt it did a service for infertility by making more people realise that women can't control their ovaries with Jedi mind tricks. Sigh, then this guy speaks out. There's your reason why he's in the House of Representatives and not still practicing.

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    1. This morning on NPR they were talking about how the party was starting to try to redefine their image so that more people would join. They played a snippet of a speech Bobby Jindal gave at their winter gathering where he was talking about how the party should quit coming across as so stupid - and he was referring to all the rape comments. I'm glad that even fellow repubs recognize the stupidity.

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  4. I think it is so unfair that some states mandate IF insurance and others don't. I don't begrudge the lucky ones that do have coverage, but I do begrudge the $thousands$$ of dollars that we have had to spend on our own 100% out of pocket expenses. I do suppose I shouldn't call them the lucky ones, since they are unfortunate to be seeking IF treatments in the first place, but you know what I mean. I agree, it is so frustrating that someone that is supposed to be educated in this field could be so ignorant.

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    1. I know, I totally wish I could move to a place where I didn't have to worry about the money for treatments. We've switched medical insurance a couple of times at my work and every time we go to the orientation meetings I flip through to find the maternity stuff. And I always find "no midwives, no fertility treatments" and I'm always sad. :(

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