FrankNstein has posted a diary
Why does Dennis Hastert support Genetic Discrimination? If you do not know what Genetic Discrimination is I recommend you read the diary and comments. If you do know what it is please come to the extended entry to see how we can work with the religious right to pass legislation that benefits all Americans.
Genetic Discrimination is a wedge issue for the R's. The Insurance companies want to use it to drop health insurance coverage for those who may become ill. Employers want to use it to fire or never hire; people who may become sick, use alcohol or drugs, come to work late, engage in risky behavior,... what have you. These are the reasons ALL Americans should oppose Genetic Discrimination. The reason the Radical Religious Right should oppose Genetic Discrimination is that it will dramatically increase abortion.
Understand, I am not opposing abortion here, merely pointing out to the Radical Religious Right how opposing Genetic Discrimination benefits them, their families, and the goal of reducing abortions.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Dennis Hastert And GOP Leadership encourage tens of thousands of abortions!
We all inherit our genes from our parents. No one can control which genes we inherit not us, not our parents, not our doctors. In short, when God endows us with life He decides which genes we will inherit.
Genetic testing is a procedure used to look at the genes of a person to see if they might contract a genetic disease. Employers want to look at your genes to see if you are likely to become sick, to use drugs or alcohol, to work hard, or to possess other characteristics they want in their employees. Insurance companies want to look at your genes so they can deny you coverage if you become sick. And parents want to look at their babies genes so they can abort babies who may face lifelong illness, and who WILL be denied health insurance FOR LIFE! All of these are Genetic Discrimination.
We all carry genes associated with increased risk of one disease or another. But only a small fraction of us will ever contract the diseases our genes are associated with. Those who become seriously ill are the ones who need health insurance the most for large medical expenses. These medical expeses are the leading cause of bankruptcy in America today.
http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2005/02/21/gvsc0221.htm
Most Genetic tests DO NOT show that a person WILL have a disease, only that they are more likely to contract a disease. Parents faced with having a child with a serious illness face a difficult challenge. Add to that challenge that their baby WILL be DENIED medical insurance resulting in financial ruin and insufficient care for their child and this burden can seem insurmountable.
Currently, many parents utilize Amniocentisis to detect problems with the 46 chromosomes that all humans have. Many parents elect to abort babies based on the results of Amniocentisis. Genetic testing allows us to look at nearly six billion different letters in our genetic code. A change in only one of these six billion letters can cause deadly diseases like cystic fibrosis, or sickle cell anemia! Fortunately, most people with these genetic markers will never become ill. But your insurance company WILL refuse to insure you and your child. Worse than that, you don't even need to be tested! If your mother, your brother, your cousin, anyone related to you tests positive, they may deny coverage to your ENTIRE family in order to avoid paying for health care.
Faced with the prospect of having a seriously ill child and no way to pay for the medical care their child will need many parents will resort to genetic testing to see if their baby has the genes that insurance companies won't cover. MANY OF THESE UNBORN BABIES WILL BE KILLED! The tragic part of this is that many of those would have been perfectly normal!
Recently, Dennis Hastert and the Republican Leadership have killed a bill that would prevent genetic discrimination
being used to force mothers to abort their babies or face financial ruin! This bill has already passed 98-0 in the Senate. Even the abortionists recognize that Genetic Discrimination is wrong!
Dennis Hastert(R - IL) has betrayed the trust of the people who put him in office! Please write, phone, or e-mail Dennis Hastert and your Congressman and tell them that this bill protects all Americans, the born, and the unborn.
Dennis Hastert took $134,000 from the insurance industry. He took nearly $550,000 from Lawyers, Pharmaceutical Companies, and Doctors so they could use Genetic Discrimination against the American people and their babies. Tell Dennis Hastert not to listen to the Special Interests who pay him. Tell him to do his job as a United States Congressman and protect United States citizens.
END OF PRESS RELEASE.
These are my talking points. Please take them, cut and paste them, e-mail them, mail them, post them, phone them to your favorite Radical Religious Right groups and GOP Congressmen. This is a wedge we can use to get the Radical Religious Right to help us do something that benefits ALL Americans who have been born, and some who have not.
Also feel free to ask questions. And to call me a hypocrite for using an anti-abortion stance to promote a pro-American position.