As most of you know, I am sole caregiver for my 90+ Mom, who has had a stroke and a concussion this year. The worst of it is the near-constant nagging back pain. So I wondered, especially given that most such caregivers are women, are we all feeling this way?
Yes, yes we are:
Margie is one of the estimated 42.1 million unpaid, informal caregivers who each year, provide support valued at more than $450 billion to adults, usually family members, with physical disabilities and other conditions that impose limitations on daily activities. And like many informal caregivers, she suffers from chronic back, shoulder, and knee pain from the physically demanding work – pain that sometimes prevents her from caring for her husband.
According to a new study from researchers at The Ohio State University, Margie’s experience is common, particularly among the estimated 14 million “high-burden” caregivers (defined by the National Alliance for Caregiving and the AARP as people who spend more than 21 hours a week assisting care recipients with activities of daily living).
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The research, based on questionnaires and interviews with 46 informal caregivers, showed that across four weeks, 94% reported experiencing musculoskeletal pain in at least one body part, with the lower back (76%), knees, shoulder, and wrist (43% each) being the most common sites for discomfort. More than 78% of caregivers said that the pain impacted their ability to provide care, and 66% said the pain impacted their overall quality of life.
Gee, activities that cause pain in 94% of those participating. Maybe something needs to change?
Updated to add: This compares with “nearly 9 in 10” football players retired from the NFL with chronic pain, but a minimum $405,000 per year salary during their working years to compensate.
In Other News
Medical
New Bill Would Ensure Free Exams for Sexual Assault Victims
After a sexual assault, some victims are charged for the initial treatment and collection of evidence, even though U.S. federal law requires those services to be free.Now, a new federal bill aims to change that by requiring private insurance companies to cover these costs for their customers.
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The No Surprises for Survivors Act makes forensic medical exams an emergency service under the 2020 No Surprises Act, which earlier protected those privately insured from surprise medical bills for certain emergency care.
Despite the existence of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which was passed in 1994, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that survivors were billed in nearly 18,000 of 113,000 emergency visits for sexual violence in 2019. Those charges averaged $3,551 per person, NBC News reported…. The charges may be for a service not covered by VAWA or because of a hospital billing error.
Ah yes, ye olde “hospital billing error,” AKA “you caught us, now we make excuses”.
abortion
New Frontline of US Abortion Battles Emerges in New Mexico.
On the remote plains of New Mexico ... two conservative towns are set to outlaw [abortion locally despite it remaining legal in the state] -- The towns of Clovis and Hobbs do not even have abortion clinics but are strategic, activists and clinicians say, because they are near the border with Texas, to the east. Texas was one of the first states to impose a near-total ban on abortion and providers could face up to life in prison there.
The New Mexican abortion provider within closest reach for most Texas women is currently in Albuquerque - about a four-hour drive from Clovis and five hours from Hobbs [and now] one of the largest independent abortion providers in the US [is having] to reconsider setting up a clinic in eastern New Mexico.
Anti-abortion activists hope other towns will follow Clovis and Hobbs to vastly shrink where abortions are still performed, especially in other states controlled by Democrats. Activists in New Mexico fighting for women's access to safe abortions fear a new fight is coming to these "blue" states.
Faith groups weigh the impact of abortion on the midterms: “Pro-choice Catholics don’t just exist, we are the majority” - Catholics for Choice voter guide
Support for abortion rights has become increasingly visible in faith circles. Groups aligned with liberal wings of several religions have hosted rallies, protests and demonstrations with lawmakers. The National Council of Jewish Women met with Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff, who expressed support for their cause. Plaintiffs in lawsuits against abortion bans in states such as Kentucky, where a referendum on the issue is on the November ballot, have cited their faith as a reason to oppose the restrictions.
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A recent 19th News/SurveyMonkey poll conducted in September… found that majorities of Catholics (57%), Orthodox Christians (73%), Jews (73%), Muslims (63%), Buddhists (77%), Hindus (67%) and non-evangelical Christians (64%) all said abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Only evangelicals and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints expressed majority support for making abortion illegal in all or most cases (65% and 54%, respectively).
On the other hand: How the threat of ‘taxpayer-funded abortion’ is being used to mobilize conservative religious voters:
In the post-Dobbs world of the 2022 midterms, abortion debates are primarily focused on whether abortion will be legal, but anti-abortion leaders are also highlighting the implications of these laws for voters’ tax dollars.
This should not be surprising. In the course of my research on debates about taxpayer-funded abortion, I found that this threat has historically been used to motivate and mobilize anti-abortion voters. This message has especially resonated for those conservative evangelical Christians and Catholics who believe that when abortion is funded using their tax dollars, this makes them personally complicit in sin.
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Abortion funding bans also appeal to fiscally conservative voters who oppose welfare spending in general, whether or not they are morally opposed to abortion. Since the 1970s, anti-abortion leaders have argued that “funding bans protected taxpayers’ wallets as well as their consciences,” according to the legal historian Mary Ziegler. National survey data my colleagues and I analyzed suggests that this argument continues to resonate. Six out of 10 Republicans with no religious affiliation support abortion funding bans; so do between 14% and 17% of Republicans who support legal abortion.
Big Meeting
The 2022 International Conference on Family Planning 14-17 November 2022, Pattaya City, Thailand: You can join live at the time from anywhere, just follow the link:
The International Conference on Family Planning has convened the global development community around a shared vision of universal access to family planning since 2009.
A network of advocates, researchers and scientists, community and government leaders, health practitioners, economists, conveners, civil society members, and young people.
We are joined by the belief that everyone deserves access to family planning services and products, no matter what.
Good News
Glamour has selected its Women of the Year and here’s a link to this year’s wonderful women: “Since 1990, Glamour has honored the world's most extraordinary women—trailblazers, rule breakers, visionaries, and champions who have defined each year. Meet the class of 2022.”
Honorees include Angela Bassett, Dr. Rebecca Gomperts, Jennifer Hudson, Shannon Watts, the Haim sisters, Aurora James, and Chloe Kim.
As always, this column is a group effort. Many thanks to Tara the Antisocial Social Worker, mettle fatigue, and Getting1 for this week’s links and discussion!
And as always, I need to take care of Mom first, but will be by when I can. If I’m not here, please rec, comment, and discuss amongst yourselves. Thanks!
And Happy Halloween coming right up! Embrace your inner witch, as well as any witches you may know!