Book Review: Making Our Democracy Work by Stephen Breyer

As a member of several groups whose civil rights live and die by the Supreme Court, I often find myself paying more attention to it than the average person, so it makes sense that I snagged Making Our Democracy Work when I saw it on the new books shelf at the library. While Breyer isn't my favorite Justice (that honor goes to Justice Ginsburg*), I've nevertheless been a fan of a number of his decisions and rulings, and thought that his book would be an interesting read.

For the most part, it was, though I personally didn't find it particularly enlightening. That's not because Breyer is a bad writer or Making Our Democracy Work was uninformative; it was simply because I had already covered the material before in my high school and university coursework. I imagine, though, that it would be very compelling to someone who was unfamiliar with the evolution of the Supreme Court and the different judicial philosophies of its Justices who also wanted to learn a bit about its history and the specifics of some modern decisions. As such, I'd recommend it to anyone who didn't study American public policy, political science, history, or law who has an interest in the subject. Breyer writes very clearly, using language that most can comprehend (though his prose is often a bit on the dry side, but I guess that's to be expected). Breyer does an excellent job discussing the evolving role of the Court in American political life as well as detailing the reasoning behind the decisions he's been a part of.

Overall, I give it 4 out of 5 stars, even though I didn't have much use for it.


*I am sure you're all very surprised to learn that.

Things to be in a good mood about.

1. Gay marriage is legal in New York.

2. Indiana's bill to de-fund Planned Parenthood got smacked down in court. Here's hoping the same thing happens here and in Tennessee, and that none of the states' appeals succeed.

3. The creepy asshole in New Mexico who put up a libelous billboard claiming his ex-girlfriend killed his unborn baby was ordered to take it down.

4. Kathy Griffin = amazing.

And the Hits Keep a Comin': NC Bars Planned Parenthood from Receiving State and Federal Funding

Shortly after midnight last night, North Carolina became the third state to ban Planned Parenthood from receiving state or federal funds when a Republican minority and five turncoat Democrats in the General Assembly overrode Governor Bev Perdue's veto of their budget. The Senate still has to vote, but since they have a strong Republican majority, it will almost certainly pass there. As a result, thousands of women across the state are at risk of losing access to their only source of healthcare and family planning services.

I am one of them. Fortunately, my birth control renewal (I buy three months at a time because it's cheaper) happened a month ago, and I therefore have enough nuva rings to last me until I start school in August. Hopefully, the school health clinic will offer my birth control at prices comparable to Planned Parenthood's, and I won't have to worry about getting knocked up and coming up with the cash to cover an abortion (perhaps I could bill the General Assembly). There are many, many other women out there who aren't so fortunate. Like me, they make too much money to qualify for Medicaid, but work at jobs that don't provide insurance (or, in my case, have insurance policies that are so expensive that employees are unable to use them) and don't pay well enough to allow them to purchase private full coverage. Planned Parenthood is an invaluable resource for us, and these cuts could result in a loss or interruption of services.

Planned Parenthood has promised to challenge this in court. While I'm certain they'll win, given the smackdown that Indiana just received at the hands of Health and Human Services and Obama's (frankly shocking, given the way he threw abortion rights under the bus during the health care reform debate) pledged support of Planned Parenthood, a legal battle will cost both the organization and the state of North Carolina money that could be better spent elsewhere. Every dollar that Planned Parenthood spends defending itself against right-wing attack legislation is a dollar they could be spending doing something that no anti-choice politician has ever done: preventing unwanted pregnancies (and abortions!) by educating and providing contraceptives to the population. North Carolina's money would be far better spent addressing certain important educational and employment issues facing the state, but apparently anti-choice grandstanding is more important to state Republicans than addressing our almost 10% unemployment rate and moving our schools out of competition with Tennessee and Mississippi for "Worst Schools in the Entire Country."

It's worth mentioning that the budget in question also made dramatic cuts to education.

If you're in Asheville, there's going to be a rally against this action on July 4th, 11 AM - 1 PM at the Vance monument downtown. I may or may not be there due to my job, but I'll try to make it if possible. There's a facebook event page here.

Why I Stand With Planned Parenthood

One of the reasons that I have been relatively lax about blogging these days is that turning on my computer and logging into facebook leads to me to a veritable flood of articles detailing the multitude of ways in which Congressional Republicans have declared war on women. I dislike using extreme language, but there's no other way to describe the concerted effort that these politicians have made to make the lives of women difficult poverty-ridden end in childbirth or illegal abortion complications hell on earth. I am also not generally a fan of escapism, but seriously. I'm past the land of moral outrage and well into the realm of resigned depression at this point, and seeing yet another story that sends the unequivocal message that  I am a uterus with legs isn't exactly ameliorating my state of mind.

Nevertheless, I think it's important to talk about why Planned Parenthood is so important, and how de-funding it is a really, really bad idea.

Planned Parenthood provides healthcare to millions of men and women, many of who are poor or un/underinsured. I am one of them. I was kicked off my father's insurance policy in January, having turned twenty-six in November. Since I am a woman of reproductive age, private, self-pay insurance is absurdly expensive. A decent policy involves spending upwards of $300 a month (slightly less if I electively forgo maternity coverage) before I walk into a doctor's office or hit up a pharmacy. Then, there's the $1000 (at least) deductible. In short, I would have to pay $4600 before the insurance would even kick in-- and I'd still have to pay for an assortment of co-pays and any treatments or tests I'd undergo are, of course, subject to refusal if the moon is full on the third Saturday of February and my doctor didn't sacrifice the goat properly.

Given my income, private insurance simply isn't an option. I instead opted for what I refer to as the "Oh, Shit! My Appendix Just Exploded!" Plan. It's a high-deductible ($7000), low premium ($35/month) insurance that will enable me to not go eighty bajillion dollars in debt should I get hit by a car or contract the ebola virus and have to go to the ER. It works out fairly well, as I don't get sick often and have no chronic health issues that would necessitate regular doctor's visits. The problem, of course, is that policies like mine do not cover any kind of preventative care, and there's no prescription coverage, either. So when it comes to routine care like pap smears, STD testing, physicals, vaccinations, etc., I am, for all intents and purposes, uninsured. The same goes for acquiring birth control. No prescription coverage = I get to pay the full sticker price at the drugstore, and, thanks to America's absurd drug patenting laws, my birth control of choice (the nuva ring) runs about $75 a month. It should go without saying that paying out-of-pocket for doctor's visits and screenings is just as cost-prohibitive as spending $75 a month on birth control.

That's where Planned Parenthood comes in. Since they receive Title X funding from the government, they can provide services, screenings, and birth control at cost, or even below, depending on your income level. That means that people who are uninsured (or have cruddy insurance) can get a pap smear or an HIV test without killing their wallets. The same goes for birth control. Due to its size, Planned Parenthood is able to directly negotiate prices with the pharmaceutical companies, thereby allowing them to sell birth control at or below cost (or give it away for free). The nuva ring, which is $75 a month at Walgreen's, is only $33 a month at Planned Parenthood, which was approximately what I was paying for it back when I had decent insurance. If it weren't for Planned Parenthood, I would be unable to obtain regular reproductive care and I wouldn't be able to use birth control because both would be too expensive. There are a lot of people out there in my position. Millions, in fact.

De-funding Planned Parenthood will inevitably lead to an increase of STDs, cervical cancer, and unintended pregnancy. People who lack access to reproductive care are not going to stop having sex; instead, they'll be more likely to spread diseases (because they will be unable to get tested) and get pregnant (because they no longer have access to the most reliable forms of it and have to resort to less-effective contraceptives like condoms or sponges or, worse yet, nothing at all). Untreated STDs can lead to a host of health problems on down the line, from insanity (syphilis) to cervical cancer (HPV) to infertility (most bacterial nasties can cause Pelvic Inflammatory Disease, which, in advanced stages, makes women sterile) to certain, painful death (HIV). Obviously, the more untreated people there are out there, the faster these diseases will spread.

Beyond STDs, unplanned pregnancies cost a lot more than cheap birth control. Even uneventful pregnancies can run up medical bills in the tens of thousands of dollars, and women who qualify for free or reduced birth control with Planned Parenthood will almost certainly qualify for medicaid.There's a reason why every dollar spent on Title X funding saves four dollars in medicaid costs. Birth control will always be cheaper than prenatal care (and the savings grow even higher when you factor in how much WIC, food stamps, medicaid, free lunches, HUD housing, and TANF will wind up costing over the course of the ensuing eighteen years).

So, in addition to providing people with free or reduced cost healthcare and sex education, Planned Parenthood also saves the government millions of dollars in unpaid benefits. Cutting their funding would ultimately lead to a less healthy population (both literally and figuratively), as well as perniciously increase government spending. So let's all be sane about this and acknowledge that Planned Parenthood provides important public services, and stop trying to screw women over in the name of responsible (lulz) government spending.

A Short List of Retractions

I am occasionally wrong about things:

1. There are some acceptable pumpkin-flavored beverages. They are known as "beers" and contain alcohol.
2. Naomi Wolfe, as my friend Lauren Riot said, has lost her goddamn mind. I always had a love/hate relationship with Wolfe, but now she's squarely in PagliaLand ("Where feminists who spend 90% of their time hating on other women go"). 
3. Red and green can look good together. Evidence: the Hello Kitty blanket my stepmother made me for Christmas. I LOVE it. 
4. It is possible to consume unsweetened tea without dying of the awful taste (but said tea needs to be hot).
5. I may be wrong about Sarah Palin being as dumb as a box of rocks. No stupid person can be that effective at saying the most offensive thing possible in a given situation that consistently. (On the other hand, a Christian calling herself a victim of blood libel based on the way supporters of a Jewish politician are behaving? SERIOUSLY?)

Sorry guys, still an atheist

You know, I would have considered a simultaneous repeal of DADT and passage of the DREAM act a Christmas miracle, but since only the first part actually happened, I remain comfortably non-theistic.

Better luck next year, I guess.

This sums up my entire opinion where Assange is concerned:

Naomi Wolfe's most recent blog post over on goodreads:

In other words: Never in twenty-three years of reporting on and supporting victims of sexual assault around the world have I ever heard of a case of a man sought by two nations, and held in solitary confinement without bail in advance of being questioned -- for any alleged rape, even the most brutal or easily proven. In terms of a case involving the kinds of ambiguities and complexities of the alleged victims' complaints -- sex that began consensually that allegedly became non-consensual when dispute arose around a condom -- please find me, anywhere in the world, another man in prison today without bail on charges of anything comparable.

Of course 'No means No', even after consent has been given, whether you are male or female; and of course condoms should always be used if agreed upon. As my fifteen-year-old would say: Duh.

But for all the tens of thousands of women who have been kidnapped and raped, raped at gunpoint, gang-raped, raped with sharp objects, beaten and raped, raped as children, raped by acquaintances -- who are still awaiting the least whisper of justice -- the highly unusual reaction of Sweden and Britain to this situation is a slap in the face. It seems to send the message to women in the UK and Sweden that if you ever want anyone to take sex crime against you seriously, you had better be sure the man you accuse of wrongdoing has also happened to embarrass the most powerful government on earth.

ETA: It probably bears mentioning that I find the other Naomi wolf article to be supremely screwed up and victim-blaming. Referring to Interpol as the "Bad Date Police"? Not. Cool.

This whole brouhaha has (once again) led to me being seriously disappointed with many male (and a few female) so-called progressives who seem to think that since Assange did Important Things, it's okay to treat the women who accused him of sexual assault like crap. His arrest and detainment are undeniably politically motivated, but that does not make attacking his accusers okay.