This is going to be short and sweet. I work for a healthcare non profit in NoVA, close to DC. Our main email inbox has always received a lot of "bulletins" pertaining to just about every healthcare issue you can imagine, but this is the first time I noticed an outright smear against healthcare reform. We need to know what we're dealing with, and I thought this might be valuable to share with the communnity. The "bulletin" is posted in its entirety below the fold:
STATEMENT
Contact: jmattbarber@comcast.net - 202-255-1959 (See instructions below to unsubscribe from media list)
DATE: August 4, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ObamaCare Likely to Mandate Free "Sex-Change" Surgeries
Washington, DC – When asked by Senator Orin Hatch (R-UT) whether President Obama’s proposed socialized healthcare plan will mandate taxpayer funded abortion, Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) admitted that it will require "any service deemed medically necessary or medically appropriate." It now appears that the plan’s "medically appropriate" umbrella is far more expansive than most Americans could have imagined.
In addition to abortion on demand, the weight of the evidence indicates that cosmetic "gender reassignment" surgeries for both U.S. citizens and illegal immigrants who suffer from APA recognized "Gender Identity Disorder" (GID) may also be provided – free of charge – courtesy of the U.S. taxpayer. The current price tag for such a procedure can exceed $50,000.
Page 972 of the House version of the bill (H.R. 3200) provides for "standards, as appropriate, for the collection of accurate data on health and health care" based on "sex, sexual orientation [and] gender identity." The Senate draft indicates that the government will "detect and monitor trends in health disparities," requiring the Department of Health and Human Services to "develop standards for the measurement of gender." (i.e., officially recognize subjectively self-determined "transgender" or "transsexual" gender identities). It further mandates ‘‘participation in the institutions’ programs of individuals and groups from...different genders and sexual orientations."
Matt Barber, Director of Cultural Affairs with both Liberty Counsel and Liberty Alliance Action commented: "There’s a gulf of difference between what Obama and liberals in Congress, and the American people deem ‘medically appropriate;’ especially when it’s ‘we the people’ footing the bill. To force Americans, against their conscience, to fund abortion on demand and to facilitate gender confusion by subsidizing the elective practice of genital ‘sex-change’ mutilation is unconscionable.
"After hearing Sen. Mikulski’s ‘any service deemed...medically appropriate’ admission, I was prompted to dig a little deeper. I contacted the offices of Sen. Harry Reid, Rep. Charlie Rangel, Rep. Barney Frank and the House Subcommittee on Health. I asked, very simply, for ‘an assurance that the proposed healthcare plan will not allow taxpayer funded gender reassignment surgeries or hormone therapies.’ When faced with the bill’s relevant language, every staffer I spoke with either declined to answer or would neither confirm nor deny that such procedures would be covered.
"It’s time for the mainstream media to do its job and demand straight answers on this government healthcare scheme. Instead of acting as ObamaCare cheerleaders, journalists need to ask the same questions I did and refuse to take ‘no answer’ for an answer. I also call on the American people to ask their Congressional representatives the following question: ‘Will you pledge to oppose this legislation unless taxpayer funding for both abortion and sex change surgeries are expressly excluded?’
"It’s no wonder that, as Americans find out what’s hidden within this socialized ObamaCare monstrosity, furious opposition to it continues to skyrocket."
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Now, I wasn't sure how this "j matt barber" character was, until I did a quick google search and discovered that he is "Associate Dean of Liberty University School of Law" He's a link to his blog He was also kind enough to leave his email and a phone number (with a DC area code, FYI). Interesting that his email is a generic comcast account...apparently whoever is using the likes of Liberty "University" (Jerry Fallwell's old outfit) to push this garbage doesn't want to be publicly associated with this well known institution for right wing crazies. I suppose the Christians and Birthers are just the right kind of stoopid fodder that the corporatists find useful enough to do their bidding, even if they are too embarrassed by their nuttiness to be directly associated with them.
We need to be out there making our presence known, because unfortunately for us, whoever shouts the loudest wins. This kind of misinformation is directed straight at rural voters like those of my home state, who will definitely be swayed by these types of appeals if they are not countered effectively. Just a thought: Has anyone thought of doing a mothership/command central diary listing all the townhalls of congress critters throughout the country? That would be an efficient way to help more of us find event in our area and make our voices heard when crazies like these show up to try to disrupt things.