"Cruel Heartbreak" (Seattle Times/P-I)

[yewberry]

Unbelievable.


"If you're a pregnant military spouse who decides to terminate a pregnancy, your military health insurance won't pay for it. It doesn't matter if the feuts is severely deformed, and that it likely would be stillborn.

This was the case for an Everett woman, a Navy wife known as Jane Doe. Initially, US District Judge Thomas Zilly ruled that the military should pay to abort the fetus, which had neither brain nor skull. Doe's doctor said the resulting child would be "permanently unconscious...and have no sensory perception." He also said, "knowingly carrying a non-viable fetus to term can cause severe psychological distress." The military casually shrugged off this information, refusing to pay."

more at link:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/237276_nochoiceed.html


(The paper has a place for comments & reactions to the editorial, too.)

[politicat]

1. I know this is horrid, but our health insurance (civilian) has rarely paid

for abortions.

Cigna did not, Kaiser did not, and Blue Cross Blue shield did not. Our current provider does pay for them, but only at outpatient rates (70% coverage)

If amazingly I should manage to get pregnant (not likely, considering the DH's snip a few years ago and my own questionable fertility) and we chose not to keep it (likely) we'd have to pay out of pocket, just like most people.

It's one of the few areas that I actually don't like Planned Parenthood - many of the clinics have a rather cash only, back alley feel to them (I've been an abortion buddy in six clinics in three states and been there for myself once) and a cattle car mentality. Why the hell does a woman have to come to the clinic at 9 am for a procedure that won't take place until 4 pm, and why the hell must it be done before the novacaine takes effect? Why won't clinics take credit cards? (I can understand checks, I guess.... but if it really is a medical procedure, then treat it like one, not like something shameful.)

Don't get me wrong - I'm 100% pro-choice and very much an abortion advocate... I just wish the system wasn't so geared towards causing the woman pain, making her feel like a criminal and (to quote some random pro-lifer having an abortion) a "dirty little dame."

[Heddi]

2. One of my nursing instructors works at Planned Parenthood

And we were talking sort-of about this very thing in school one day. He mentioned that they take cash only as payment for services, and someone asked why not credit cards, and HE said that they don't take checks or credit cards because the record of the transaction could be used against the woman (or man) getting the procedure done--meaning, it may inadvertently break HIPAA rules---if planned parenthood shows up on a credit-card statement, that is an acknowledgement that you got services there. If you didn't want your husband/wife, mother/father, etc to know you went there, they WOULD know by seeing the credit card transaction.

Same with checks---they, like credit cards, produce a paper-trail that could cause pain and embarassment for many women and men who rely on the services that Planned Parenthood offers (not just abortions!)

He also mentioned the recent court cases where states were trying to get medical records from Planned Parenthood to check for 'underage abortions' or whatever, and how generally, the courts have been sympathetic with regards to medical records because they convey a certain sense of privacy.

Financial records, however, are not so "private" and if PP took checks or credit cards, in addition to seeking information via med records, the state could go after their financial transactions (including all check & credit card recepits) and try to track down patients via that avenue.

I think that Planned Parenthood really does value privacy ALOT more than most doctor's offices, if for no other reason than the nature of their business.

My HMO takes checks & credit cards. But they're also pretty lax about HIPAA, as I was able to go in and get a copy of my husband's medical records by telling the woman at the front counter that I was his wife. No "can you verify the DOB" or anything. He didn't even have a waiver signed allowing anyone but himself to get information regarding his records. But they let me walk out with them without a problem.

I don't think PP would be that lacadasial about medical records if the same situation were to occur, but in reverse.

[politicat]

3. Thanks... that makes sense... I guess.

I guess I just have serious issues with anything that is on a cash only basis -- having studied a bit of the economics of black markets, cash only raises metaphorical hackles for me.

The other issues, however (and I have in fact discussed them with several PP employees and the local clinic director....).... those are still an issue.

(And yes, I do wear my "I had an abortion" t-shirt on a rather large number of occasions. I refuse to be made to feel shame for a decision that was in the best interest of those already breathing air. This is one of the reasons the esthetic climate of PP bothers me. If we're not about shame, then we're not about shame.)

[Heddi]

4. I agree that there SHOULD be no shame attached

but that's not the reality for many women who get clandestine abortions because of their own personal situation.

Also, remember that Planned Parenthood just doesn't perform abortions. I go there to get my depo-provera shots. Many young people go there for pregnancy tests, PAPs, and STD testing.

There have been times where I've gone to PP and realized that I didn't have cash on me---they let me leave my credit card with them while I ran to the ATM to get cash to pay for my Pap, or whatever. It's an inconvenience, but I suppose that it's an inconvenience for ME---

Last quarter in nursing school, I spent a day at PP doing birth control education, giving Depo shots, sitting on on consultations. They sent me there during their open, no-appointment-necessary "Teen Clinic" day.

SO many of those kids--boys AND girls---first question out of their mouth: "My mom (or dad) can't find out I've been here, right?" "You don't tell my parents I came here, do you?" "Can my parents call up and find out if I've been here?"


I live in a city that has a very high population of migrant Hispanic workers. Most of the kids at the clinic that day were Hispanic, were Catholic, and were not to be taking contraception, not to be having sex, not to be having abortions. Not to be getting STD testing, not to be getting AIDS testing. Not to get GYN exams because they're sexually active.

By making it CASH ONLY they (PP) are further affirming their dedication to patient's rights and privacy. There is no way these kids' parents would know they were at PP. There is no paper trail, and HIPAA laws would prevent it anyway.

For you and I---there is no shame in our decision to get whatever medical intervention we need for whatever situation we may feel necessary. For a 15 year old hispanic girl who is going against the wishes of her father, her mother, her church, and her culture, there IS an air of shame around her being sexually active, her possibly having an STD, her possibly being pregnant and unwed. I'm not saying that the shame is warranted, or even logical---but in HER reality, there is a stigma attached to being sexually active outside of marriage, and she (and every woman, man, girl, boy that visits PP for WHATEVER reason) has the right to unmitigated privacy with regards to her sexuality and medical choices.

Thankfully, my local PP just opened a new office which is much larger, much nicer, and not so run-down as the old building they used to be in. It doesn't feel like you're sitting in the lobby of a medical office. It's very soft and designed well. When a young woman comes in for a procedure, she is checked in, sits in the lobby, and then is taken to a separate, more private lobby where she waits and then is taken to the exam room.

I don't know the exact procedure for women seeking abortions at my local PP, but I do know that they are scheduled for an appointment and asked to come in 15 minutes early to fill out paperwork, and then immediatley have the procedure done---they don't want to add to the stress by having her sit around for hours and hours. They try to get her in, done, and out as quickly as possible, although they do allow the woman to stay at the clinic as long after the procedure as she feels necessary and has the option to talk to clinicians and councelors before, during, and after the procedure for as long as necessary.