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Die-In at the Ferry Building to Protest Healthcare Bill's Abortion Ban Pt. II
On December 5, women and men protested the Stupak amendment in San Francisco with a march and die-in at the Ferry Building. They said that the Stupak Amendment is an attack on women's rights, but especially on poor women's access to reproductive care. While demonstrators for single payer healthcare with full access to reproductive rights marched in black, the Billionaires for Wealthcare satirized the attitudes of those who can afford healthcare and yet are perfectly happy to deny access to healthcare to those who can not.
A majority of senators are in favor of abortion rights, but a few are threatening to back out completely if the the bill's language does not make it absolutely clear that no federal government money will go towards subsidizing abortions. And it is woefully apparent that the issue is really about class. Poor women will be prevented from getting reproductive health care including abortions if the Senate Bill includes anything akin to the Stupak amendement.
If Stupak had attempted to expand his amendment to cover women of means the amendment to Congress' bill would surely have failed. Because the affluent have more political power, Congress would not have been able to alter women's reproductive services for this class. Poorer women who would be using subsidies provided by an insurance "exchange" were the first to be targeted. Wealthy men and women, with considerably much more weight to bring to bear on legislators, would never have stood for the elimination of reproductive choice.
Today, while demonstrators for healthcare reform wore black and marched for full access to reproductive services, the Billionaires for Wealthcare satirized the attitudes of the wealthy, mocking them with signs including "Survival of the Richest". They took swigs from martini glasses, and cheerfully shared their views with TV cameras singing, "In every other wealthy nation healthcare is a right, but not here in America....not without a fight!"
If Stupak had attempted to expand his amendment to cover women of means the amendment to Congress' bill would surely have failed. Because the affluent have more political power, Congress would not have been able to alter women's reproductive services for this class. Poorer women who would be using subsidies provided by an insurance "exchange" were the first to be targeted. Wealthy men and women, with considerably much more weight to bring to bear on legislators, would never have stood for the elimination of reproductive choice.
Today, while demonstrators for healthcare reform wore black and marched for full access to reproductive services, the Billionaires for Wealthcare satirized the attitudes of the wealthy, mocking them with signs including "Survival of the Richest". They took swigs from martini glasses, and cheerfully shared their views with TV cameras singing, "In every other wealthy nation healthcare is a right, but not here in America....not without a fight!"
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