Stop the American Taliban

April 7, 2023

Apr 07, 2023

Good Morning Healthcare Advocates

I’m very thankful for your advocacy for healthcare reform. Let me take a moment to point out some resources for you. At the bottom of every newsletter are links to additional sources. The first is a link to the League of Women Voters Healthcare Reform Toolkit. It is a rich source of material on healthcare reform, especially single payer.

The second link is our collection or resources. As we find new important sources I save them there for you. There are links to lists of healthcare reform groups, reproductive health sources (where to get medication, for instance), US government and other healthcare data sources and more.

I’ve left the links in place regarding claims appeals and denials of claims in the resource section.

If there are sites that you think are useful, please send them to me in the comments (which we all can see) and I will include them in our resource list.

American Taliban in Action

Idaho has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country. It prohibits abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with exceptions for the life of the pregnant person and for survivors of rape and incest who have reported the incident to law enforcement

Let’s clarify because I’m easily confused. Exception to save the mother’s life. Remember that means she has to be near death. It is not for removing a dead or unviable fetus, unless she is near death, it is not to be used when an ectopic pregnancy occurs unless she is near death. If the water broke early and the fetus can’t be saved, just sit it out at home until sepsis sets in.

As we reported earlier this week, doctors are leaving Idaho, hospitals are choosing not to offer OB-Gyn services partially because doctors are scared. Remember that up to 20% of pregnancies have serious complications that will not go to term and often an abortion is needed to maintain the woman’s health and fertility. But not in Idaho.

A new law went into effect yesterday by the Idaho Taliban It makes it illegal to either obtain abortion pills for a minor or to help them leave the state for an abortion without their parents’ knowledge and consent. Anyone convicted will face two to five years in prison and could also be sued by the minor’s parent or guardian. Parents who raped their child will not be able to sue, though the criminal penalties for anyone who helped the minor obtain an abortion will remain in effect.

Did you catch that, if a parent rapes a child, you still need parental approval to travel to get an abortion and the police have to be notified.

The new legislation covers obtaining pills, helping to arrange an abortion and more.

This is diametrically opposed to compassion, it is hateful.

The ACLU and others are challenging this law on a variety of fronts but those cases will take time and children will suffer.

I’m not sure what we can do about it but I know that Idaho produces approximately ⅓ of the potatoes consumed in the US. I think if they were unable to sell them and revenue to the state plummeted, perhaps some of the people in Idaho might let their representatives know that playing Taliban in the US is not such a good idea.

TAKE ACTION 1 Contact Governor Keep Your Potatoes

ACTION 1 Call or send an email to the Governor, Brad Little, of Idaho letting him know how you feel.

Use the Governor’s Comment Form https://gov.idaho.gov/contact-us/
Phone Number: 208-334-2100.

Sample Text:

SUBJECT Reverse Abortion Bans

Idaho has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country. Laws that prevent medically necessary abortions to preserve health, prevent sepsis and death, and preserve fertility. The new abortion law,HB 242 together with existing legislation, forces rape or incest to be reported to the police thus further jeopardizing children’s lives. The Taliban-like legislation in Idaho that treats women as 2nd class citizens is heinous. I will not visit and will actively not purchase items made in Idaho, including potatoes and high tech equipment until these restrictive laws are overturned.

TAKE ACTION 2 Contact Tech CEOs to Pressure Governor

ACTION 2 Additionally, 25% of the state’s economy is in the high tech industry. Industry leaders need to know that they cannot be silent. Micron technology (chip maker) is there, so is Hewlett Packard, and Oracle. The US government also runs Idaho National Labs, who is a large employer in the state.

Here are the CEOs of some of the major tech companies in Idaho. You can cut and paste the text below in an email to them. Make sure to put your name, city and state at the end of the email. YOU CAN SEND ONE EMAIL WITH THE 3 CEOs in the BCC line

Micron Technology (Boise, Idaho) CEO Sanjay Mehrotra email: smehrotra@micron.com

Hewlett Packard CEO Enrique Lores email: enrique.lores@hp.com

Oracle (Sun Micro Systems) CEO Larry Ellison email: larry.ellison@oracle.com

Sample Text

Subject: Help Idaho’s Women and Reverse Abortion Bans

I know your company has a major technology presence in Idaho. I am appalled by the Idaho Legislature and Governor putting in place HB 242 to restrict helping minors obtain abortions. Together with legislation that treats women as 2nd class citizens unable to control their own bodies, Idaho is behaving like the American Taliban when it comes to women. I am a consumer and I want you to let Governor Brad Little know that treating half the population of Idaho as property, not citizens is not acceptable. You can exert financial pressure on the government to help force them to reverse these oppressive measures.

Name

City and State

TAKE ACTION 3 Contact President Biden about the Idaho National Lab and Chip Makers

Use RESISTBOT to send this email to President Biden

Text SIGN POHGCX to 50409

I am appalled the way the government in Idaho is now treating women and girls as property and not citizens. This latest ban, so-called abortion trafficking, is a violation of Interstate Commerce as well as the first amendment. I want you to find a way to encourage chip makers in Idaho, like Micron Technology, to put pressure on the governor to change the law. Perhaps with the new chip law you had passed. The Idaho National Lab is also there and they work for all of us and are a very large employer. Please ask them to use their influence with the government to stop this Taliban- like behavior. Thank you.