UPDATED

Photo found here

The more I think about the Stupak amendment, the more enraged I become. Old, greedy white men controlling our bodies and healthcare choices in a Democratic environment due to so-called religious beliefs. If this happened on Bush's watch, liberals would be screaming from the rooftops. Instead (a seeming impossible thought during the pre-Obama presidency), it is occurring during a solid Democratic majority in the House and Senate. Un-fucking-believable.

If there was ever a time women should rise up and unite, it is now. How dare they? How dare they attempt to repeal Roe v Wade by denying us healthcare? I refuse to accept this. If I have to gather my sisters and march on Washington, I will. I will also work against the re-election of every single Democratic candidate who votes for a bill which includes this provision. Tirelessly and forever. I have a very long memory.

By the way, did you know that there is a healthcare provision in the bill that allows insurance payments for Christian Science prayer treatments? Yep, courtesy of Hatch, Kerry and Kennedy. Kerry and Kennedy!! Insurance payments for scientific, clinical healthcare? Not so much. For spiritually healthcare? Hell, yes. Read it here.

So, we are damned if we do and damned if we don't. Healthcare for women is directly linked to pre-conceived notions in what remains in the brain cells of men and women in positions of power, who no longer understand what it is like to live in the real world.

There is no way I am sitting this one out.

UPDATE NO. 1: When I posted the link to the Send a Coat Hanger Petition to the right, my signature was approx. 1,100. When I checked last night, the number of signers was over 4,000. When I checked moments ago, it is pushing 7,000. This speaks volumes. In less than 24 hours, Credo's petition has really taken on momentum and that is encouraging.

UPDATE NO. 2: I received yet another call from the Democrat Congressional Committee. Apparently, they didn't take me seriously last time, when I told them I wouldn't give them one cent and that I was no longer registered as a Democrat due to the hijacking of the election and treatment of Hillary. In that call, the women on the other end of the phone completely understood my position, was gracious and we hung up each, each understanding the others position.

The call I received last night was from a black man. I am mentioning that for factual reasons, not because I am a racist. Pre-Obama, I wouldn't have to put in that disclaimer.

When I gave him my reasons for not donating, mentioning the primary, the Stupak version of the House bill and the fact that Obama had done nothing but travel around the world since becoming President, I was told that Some Say Obama has accomplished the most progressive feats of any other president. When I pressed him, he acknowledged maybe he hadn't actually accomplished them, but he would in time. I was also reminded that Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. Apparently, that was meant to appease women everywhere, seal O's commitment to women's issues and is one of the talking points of the Democratic Committee.

The most important aspect of this phone call was the women's health issues in the House version of the bill. I was advised by this jolly gentleman that it is is more important to get a bill through and signed into law. He chuckled with I mentioned the Stupak amendment and assured me that once the bill was signed, it would be tweaked and amended. We just needed to get it there. I guess women are supposed to take one for the team and we will be remembered at some later date. Sure...

The call ended with the admonishment that if I didn't give a donation to the Democrats, the Republicans would win and that would be the end of the world. Well, I advised him that I didn't see much of a difference between the Democrats in office now and the Republicans of the last administration. I went so far as to tell him at this point, Obama was nothing but a third term of Bush. Apparently, if the caller can't convince you that Obama is The One, they try to scare you with the Republican meme. You are either with us or against us. Ho hum.

Frankly, both parties sicken me. Politicians are beholden to corporate interest and lobbyists, fighting for the chance to stick in their thumb and pull out a plum - the plum being the special interests that keep them in their positions of power, far above the fray, unaware of the struggles of middle America. So, Democratic Congressional Committee, don't call me again. No means No.