Left – Dr. Joel Rudman (screen capture via campaign ad)
Legislation making its way through Florida’s state House and Senate would allow doctors and insurance companies to drop patients (i.e. refuse to treat patients) based on “conscience-based objection.”
The Biden administration said Monday it would provide protections against discrimination in health care based on gender identity and sexual orientation, reversing a policy of its predecessors that had been a priority for social conservatives and had infuriated civil liberties advocates.
The reversal is a victory for transgender people and undoes what had been a significant setback in the movement for LGBTQ rights.
The shift pertains to health-care providers and other organizations that receive funding from the Department of Health and Human Services. Civil rights groups had said the Trump policy would allow health-care workers and institutions, as well as insurers, to deny services to transgender individuals.
Today’s update was made in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County. That decision affirmed federal nondiscrimination protections in employment and said that sex discrimination includes discrimination against people on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Research shows that one-quarter of LGBTQ people who faced discrimination postponed or avoided receiving needed medical care for fear of further discrimination.
In a statement, American Medical Association president Susan R. Bailey applauded the move:
“The Biden administration did the right thing by terminating a short-lived effort to allow discrimination based on gender or sexual orientation when seeking health care.
“As we said in our letter to the previous administration, the interpretation was contrary to the intent and the plain language of the law. It’s unfortunate that such an obvious step had to be taken; the AMA welcomes this common-sense understanding of the law.
“This move is a victory for health equity and ends a dismal chapter in which a federal agency sought to remove civil rights protections.”
In an essay for AskMen.com, writer/comedian Ross Asdourian explains that, yes, you can break your penis.
After personally experiencing his own bruised banana during a romp in the sheets, followed by two emergency surgeries, he hopes to explain the ‘nuts and bolts’ (as it were) of the what and how of surviving a broken penis.
As Asdourian points out, the penis isn’t a bone you can technically break.
“The penis has three relevant parts to this article — two spongy tissues sacks (corpora cavernosa) that fill up with blood when you get erect and the urethra (that thing you pee and squeege out of),” explains Asdourian in his non-medical way. “If you’ve ever heard of a break, it’s actually a tear of one of those tissue sacks or a fracture of the urethra.”
The writer shares that he hit the trifecta of penile injuries by tearing both of his ‘spongy sacks’ and severing his urethra.
Asdourian shares that his banana break occurred having sex in the doggy position. In fact, a small 2017 study found that doggy-style is the sexual position that offers the most danger for guys going to Pound Town.
If you like a big swing to your strokes, chances are you might miss reentry sometime. The result might be what’s known as a ‘penile fracture.’
Not only will there be substantial pain involved, but if you’ve really broken something there will be ample swelling and discoloration.
Ross Asdourian
Asdourian is stone-cold serious when he says: do not hesitate, get yourself to the emergency room.
Sometimes, guys don’t want to face the embarrassment of explaining the incident to medical personnel. And sure, if this were stubbing your big toe, you might just tough it out.
But as Asdourian notes: This. Is. Not. Your. Toe.
What happens if you delay? Most importantly, your penis will not heal properly. The upshot of that could be bad blood flow meaning possibly no erections. And if you get erections, they could be really painful.
In Asdourian’s case, he had to endure a three-hour surgery to repair the damage done. It took four weeks of recovery to be able to urinate on his own. After a few months, he regained full sexual function.
“The long term effects of short term inaction are irreversible,” reports Asdourian. “Set your ego aside, do not play it cool, and get that hose to a doctor.”
Under the guise of “conscience rights,” the Trump Administration has officially granted doctors, nurses and other healthcare providers the right to deny care to people.
In a speech on Thursday, Donald Trump announced, “Today, we finalized new protections of conscience rights for physicians, pharmacists, nurses, teachers, students and faith-based charities.”
TRUMP: “Today we finalized new protections of conscience rights for physicians, pharmacists, nurses, teachers, students and faith-based charities.” (The subtext is that physicians will be able to discriminate against LGTBQ people.) pic.twitter.com/9JI5nbw7va
The new regulation, confirmed by the Department of Health and Human Services, allows providers to cite personal religious beliefs as justification to refuse a broad range of services.
Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center, said in a statement, “This rule allows anyone from a doctor to a receptionist to entities like hospitals and pharmacies to deny a patient critical — and sometimes lifesaving — care.”
Critics say the new regulation could put LGBTQ people at risk, such as those seeking HIV treatment or gender-confirmation procedures.
The Human Rights Campaign denounced the news as well.
“The Trump-Pence administration’s latest attack threatens LGBTQ people by permitting medical providers to deny critical care based on personal beliefs,” said David Stacy, government affairs director at the Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement.
“The administration’s decision puts LGBTQ people at greater risk of being denied necessary and appropriate health care solely based on their sexual orientation or gender identity,” he added. “Everyone deserves access to medically necessary care and should never be turned away because of who they are or who they love.”
San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera quickly announced he had filed a lawsuit in an attempt to invalidate the new federal regulation.
Herrera said in a press release that, if allowed to take effect, the rule would reduce access to health care, particularly for women, LGBTQ people, and other vulnerable populations.
“At its core, this rule is about denying people medical care,” said Herrera. “This administration is willing to sacrifice patients’ health and lives — particularly those of women and members of the LGBTQ community, and low-income families — to score right-wing political points. It’s reprehensible.”
In an op-ed for USA Today, Donald Trump tells lie after lie regarding Democrats and health care.
Trump leads with a lie right at the start saying Democrats “want to outlaw private health care plans, taking away freedom to choose plans while letting anyone cross our border.”
Dishonestly called “Medicare for All,” the Democratic proposal would establish a government-run, single-payer health care system that eliminates all private and employer-based health care plans and would cost an astonishing $32.6 trillion during its first 10 years.
As a candidate, I promised that we would protect coverage for patients with pre-existing conditions and create new health care insurance options that would lower premiums. I have kept that promise, and we are now seeing health insurance premiums coming down.
I also made a solemn promise to our great seniors to protect Medicare. That is why I am fighting so hard against the Democrats’ plan that would eviscerate Medicare. Democrats have already harmed seniors by slashing Medicare by more than $800 billion over 10 years to pay for Obamacare. Likewise, Democrats would gut Medicare with their planned government takeover of American health care.
Democrats haven’t ‘slashed’ Medicare spending. How could they? They don’t control Congress.
Trump proposed $350 billion in net Medicare cuts in his budget and there were about $540 billion in Medicare cuts in the House GOP budget plan.
Also, Democrats have never said they want to ‘outlaw’ private health care plans.
And finally, Democrats as a party have never campaigned for totally open borders.
It’s just lie after lie after lie with Trump.
This column may break the record for the number of falsehoods from a President ever published in a newspaper op-Ed. Just this tweet alone is false – “outlaw private health care plans” and “letting anyone cross our border” Huh? Fact check: false and false. Come on USA Today. https://t.co/1SPKMztmJL
Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada (L) next to President Trump
President Trump held a lunch with Republican Senators today where he said they should skip the planned August recess and remain in Washington until they pass a health care reform bill.
Just curious – will Trump stay in Washington as opposed to jetting off to one of his golf courses?
At the lunch, Trump took some not-so-veiled swipes at GOP senators who weren’t on board the recent GOP health care bill. He took direct aim at Nevada Sen. Dean Heller who was seated right next to him.
“The other night I was surprised when I heard a couple of my friends—my friends, they really were and are. They might not be very much longer, but that’s okay. I think I have to get them back,” he said to laughter in the room, at one point turning to Heller to say, “[You were] the one we were worried about. You weren’t there. You’re going to be.”
And then Trump added: “He wants to remain a senator, doesn’t he?” The president continued, as Heller’s smile turned uncomfortable: “I think the people of your state—which I know very well—I think they’re going to appreciate it whenever you do.”
Trust and believe that it was no accident that Heller is seated right next to the president.
Heller, currently in his first term, is considered the most vulnerable Republican senator up for re-election next year as Hillary Clinton won Nevada handily in last year’s presidential election.
Watch Trump needle Heller below.
President Trump warns Senator Heller over health care defection: “He wants to remain a senator, right?” https://t.co/6HAjzjpwdZ
