Odds are that unless you live in Arizona, you either don’t know or don’t pay a lot of attention to Kyl, but he’s gotten some serious media airtime in the last year and a half for a few choice comments that I’ve rarely heard from even his most conservative brethren.

Kyl had some truthy “facts” about Planned Parenthood in the run up to the recent government shutdown crisis, that he later said were never meant to be factual.  He contended in a well-covered Senate floor speech that Planned Parenthood spends more than 90 percent of its funds providing abortions, when, in reality, it’s only around three percent.  Then, as many politicians famously do, he semi-apologized because he “misspoke” and lamented that he never intended for his facts to be factual.  (Pssst – that’s Washington, D.C.-speak for lying).  And then, since he had the power, he had his purposely made-up non-facts expunged from the Congressional Record.

It’s no secret that Kyl doesn’t want federal money spent on Planned Parenthood, even if the services being provided are Pap tests or birth control.  But outrageous “misstatements” like Kyl’s make me wonder why he makes them?  Is there something about women needing appointments with OB/GYNs that offends his sensibilities?  Or is there more to it than that?  After all, it’s not the first time that Kyl has made it clear that he couldn’t care less about the facts when it comes to women’s health.

Kyl also famously protested on the record that since he has no need for maternity care, he shouldn’t have to pay for it in his insurance policy, suggesting that others shouldn’t be forced to either.  Fortunately, Senator Debbie Stabenow was on hand during that episode with a sharp one-liner retort to remind him that women in his own family probably felt differently.

There are plenty of other things Kyl doesn’t want women to have – he doesn’t like U.N. funding to help women and girls globally on family planning issues, he voted against increased funding to help teens get information about contraception, and he voted to end certain government programs to assist women-owned businesses.

Since Kyl has announced that he’s not running again for his Senate seat, maybe this is all much ado about nothing.  Someone else will be in that seat after 2102, so why sweat his neanderthal views on women?  Because he’s made no secret that he gladly would accept a bid to be vice president if the GOP candidate in 2012 asks him.  That’s just what we need regardless of political party — a vice president who would be OK with a government that would deny his wife, daughter and granddaughters, and the rest of us,  a little help because of gender.

I just wish I could figure out why he’s got it in for the ladies.  Because if you’re a man with women and girls in your immediate family, it just doesn’t make any sense.

Image via Think Progress

This is cross-posted from Toddler Planet where my amazing friend Susan Niebur, a breast cancer patient herself and a true Mother of Intention, is trying to make it possible for other breast cancer patients to obtain lymphedema sleeves and other services to manage their disease that aren’t usually covered by health insurance.  Please read on and forward this, tweet it, or post it to Facebook to get the word out to those who need help managing the cost of their illness.

Are you or do you know a breast cancer survivor? Please read today’s post and pass it on. If you can’t afford to purchase a lymphedema sleeve, gauntlet, and/or glove, and you can’t manage your post-mastectomy swelling, Crickett’s Answer and LympheDIVAs want to help.

Today, I am pleased to announce a NEW opportunity for breast cancer survivors who have had a mastectomy and/or axillary dissection of the lymph nodes due to breast cancer and have swelling of one or both arms but cannot afford the $200-$500+ cost for two sets of the compression sleeves and gauntlets that survivors with lymphedema must wear every day to keep the swelling in check.

Although lymphedema sleeves are medically necessary, they are not covered by Medicare OR most insurance plans under current law, and thousands of survivors go without the sleeves, needlessly suffering congestion, swelling, and pain that interferes with their normal activities.

Crickett’s Answer, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in memory of Crickett Julius, has just joined forces with LympheDIVAs to help other breast cancer survivors who fight not just the beast that is breast cancer but also the fallout of side effects that includes lymphedema, which may limit survivors’ activities. By working together, they are now able to provide needed lymphedema sleeves and gauntlets to women who need them but cannot afford them out-of-pocket or convince their insurance companies to pay for them. They do this in honor and memory of their loved ones.

Crickett Julius survived breast cancer only four months, but her mother and cousin are dedicated to helping other women enjoy their life post-diagnosis through Crickett’s Answer, a 501(c)3 organization that provides wigs, mastectomy products, oncology/mastectomy/ lymphedema massage, facials, and other pampering services as a way to help women feel feminine and beautiful after losing their hair and/or breasts.

LympheDIVAs was founded by Rachel Troxell and Robin Miller, friends and breast cancer survivors, who wanted to create a more elegant and comfortable compression sleeve. Rachel continued to build the company during her later recurrence. Even though she died two years ago, at the age of 37, her father, mother, and brother continue to grow the company in her honor and in the hope that LympheDIVAs’ compression apparel will continue to inspire breast cancer survivors everywhere to feel as beautiful, strong, and confident as Rachel was.

To ask for help, please download and complete the forms at Crickett’s Answer, writing in “lymphedema sleeve and gauntlet” on page 2 of the application.

To help someone else, please copy and paste this post on your blog or email it to a friend (or your local cancer center!).

To donate, go here.

To help change the law so that this medical garment is covered by cancer survivors’ insurance, stay tuned for more about the Lymphedema Treatment Act when it is reintroduced in the 2011 Congress.

Because of these women, these three thirty-something women who didn’t ask to get breast cancer, and the men and women who love them, there is now help for women who can’t afford lymphedema sleeves, a medically necessary garment not typically covered by insurance. Their legacy lives on.

Note: Cancer patients who are members of the National Lymphedema Network and who are treated by an NLN therapist can also apply to the NLN garment fund, set up in honor of Marilyn Westerbrook.

UPDATE: Shortly after this was posted, Susan received the news of another cancer recurrence.  You can read more here at her blog.  Susan is one of the most amazing, positive and strong women I know.  If you have a moment, please send good thoughts, energy and prayers her way.  Thank you.

I haven’t had any guest posts written specifically for Mothers of Intention for a while.  But when my friend Casey (you may know her better as Moosh in Indy) told me about her current insurance situation, I asked her if she would become a Mother of Intention for me.  About two seconds later I had her response.

I really want the anti-health care reform people in the blogosphere and in Congress to read this — the ones who don’t believe there’s any excuse for not having health insurance.  The ones who think they’re all ‘conservatives don’t need help from anyone.’  Because I pray you never find yourself in the situation Casey and her family is in now.  But I’d be willing to bet money that the anti-health care reform people at least know someone who has a story similar to Casey’s — it’s just not politically expedient to admit it.

And Casey — thank you, my super-kind and gentle friend for writing this about your pregnancy and lack of health insurance.

I am one of the estimated 40 million American citizens without any form of health insurance.

Of course, that is one organization’s estimation. There are other estimates that don’t count the number of people who are uninsured yet qualify for government programs or people who make over $50,000 who choose not to purchase private health insurance. When you subtract these people the number ends up around eight million.

Why am I uninsured? Several reasons, the first being that my husband’s job does not offer any benefits aside from a salary. The reason we do not have private insurance is because we simply cannot afford it and we’re not sickly enough to justify the expense. The last reason we do not have health coverage is because we do not qualify for any government programs — we utilized them while he was in school; however, we lost coverage as soon as he graduated and began working. Up until now we have used a clinic that offers a flat cash fee for services and we’ve only had to use it once. There is comfort in the fact that we would not be denied care if we needed it, but at the same time there is a sting in the fact that we would be paying so much more money than someone who had insurance. It’s a very shady business this health insurance stuff.

However, in August I found out that I am pregnant after years of infertility and being told it simply wouldn’t happen again. My first thoughts were not ones of joy — they were ones of sheer panic. I was not insured. I nearly died from a condition known as Hyperemesis (severe nausea and vomiting) with my first pregnancy and just last year I watched a friend lose her house because she was uninsured and pregnant, as well. I began calling every insurance company and state resource I could find. The responses I received ranged from “Well, we’d be happy to cover you when you’re not pregnant anymore” to “You realize if you would have had insurance all along this wouldn’t be a problem right?” I began to look into free and low cost clinics with sliding fee scales, one administrator actually laughed at me when in response to, “What does your husband do?” when I answered, “He’s an attorney.”

Yes. My husband is an attorney. A profession that many of America still sees as one that brings in six-figure salaries, full benefit packages and black luxury cars. The truth is that my husband’s gross income after we make our monthly student loan repayments is actually below federal poverty level.  But we make it work. We drive twelve-year-old cars held together by duct tape and we don’t have fancy smart phones or even a land line. Our grocery budget is meager and our washer and dryer barely work. But we make sacrifices that allow me to stay home with our daughter, something that is more important to both of us than iPhones, vacations or new cars. I am a freelance photographer and am blessed to be able to contribute a small amount to our family’s income.

But back to the insurance. I have options. I have exhausted every resource I can find and drained anyone I know of information. A nurse in Indianapolis found a midwife who is willing to cover all prenatal care for a flat fee of $3,000 and a hospital that is also willing to take a flat fee of $3,000 for a completely normal no frills delivery. This is fantastic, assuming nothing goes wrong. Another option is to re-enroll in school allowing me to join a student group insurance plan where pregnancy is not considered a pre-existing condition.  My last option, short of plunking down a Visa card at the OB office, is the Federal Pre-Existing Insurance Plan. Started in July, this insurance plan is supposed to cover people exactly like me until pre-existing conditions are considered non-existent by insurance companies, which won’t be for several more years. I applied within a half hour of hearing about it and was denied because I had been uninsured for the last year. I actually had to go through the entire process of applying for private insurance, simply to be denied so I could reapply for the Federal Pre-Existing condition program. Silly, but I’ve jumped through bigger (and sometimes stupider) hoops. I’m still waiting to find out if I will qualify or not.

At the end of this, I will hopefully end up with a happy, healthy baby just as I did with my first pregnancy. But I have been very sick and while there are medications that can help (I’m looking at you Zofran) they (and even their generic versions) are outrageously expensive (However, there is no shortage of people willing to commit federal offenses to get me their Zofran. I have politely declined all offers.) There have been days where I could have felt a lot better had I been able to receive an IV, something I did weekly during my first pregnancy but it’s just not an option at the moment. It would be a huge relief to me if something could just work out, which I know it will, I just don’t know when.

This is how it should be — you get pregnant, you go to the doctor, you have the baby, you come home. A pregnant woman’s biggest worries should be, “Can I keep this horse sized prenatal vitamin down?” or “Where’s the closest bathroom?” not “I wonder how many cash payment doctor’s appointments I can skip over so I can still put food on the table?”

If I were single? This wouldn’t be a problem.

If my husband weren’t working? Again, wouldn’t be a problem.

But this isn’t how we’ve chosen to live our lives. We’ve chosen to follow the rules, gain higher education, work and be married. And you know what? It’s a lot harder than we thought it would be but it’s how things should be done, and eventually one day maybe things won’t be so tight. But for now they are. And we have to live with it.

I have gone back and forth on my feelings towards the whole issue. There was one particularly low moment where I actually hoped for miscarriage. I’m not saying I’m particularly proud of it, I’m just telling you the truth. It’s not really worth stomping my feet and gnashing my teeth because I am the minority and I just happen to live in a state where coverage is not guaranteed upon finding yourself pregnant, and, yes, things are changing. There are options out there for people in my situation, but they are few and they are hard to find.

Not to mention that everyone else has an opinion as well.

Home Birth! Move to Canada! DIVORCE FOR NINE MONTHS!

Oddly enough, one of the hardest things to deal with is having so many people who want to help, but not having any way they can help. I mean, I’ll let you come over and scrub my toilets any day, but beyond that? This gestation stuff is going to be my responsibility.

As you might guess, I’ve got a little something to say about how big insurance companies are treating our ta-tas and today I’m saying at my weekly column at The Stir, Speaker of the House.

UPDATE:  Everyone’s ta-ta’s should be happier now!

I’d say 12 inches and counting

That oughta keep ‘em inside working for a while

Mr. PunditMom isn’t coming over to Capitol Hill with his snowblower until you work out some decent legislation!

UPDATE: We clearly will not be sending Mr. PunditMom to Capitol Hill, as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is capitulating to Senator Ben Nelson about even MORE restrictive language on abortion & women’s health care.  This isn’t a health care “starter home” as Reid proclaimed; this is shack in a back alley.

Not that I don’t try to make all the Mothers of Intention features thinking posts — be they guest essays or a round-up of great posts I’ve found on my blogosphere journeys — but there’s some really deep thinking to be had with the selection I’ve got this week:

– Crunchy Domestic Goddess takes on breastfeeding laws and Target.

– Little Purple Cow Productions has a fabulous image and moment from her trip with Jen Lemen for Picture Hope with Seen and Unseen.

– HybridMom Jennifer Rawlings wonders whether the uninsured are the new “untouchables.”

–My Netroots Nation roomie Jill Miller Zimon wrote Why It’s Okay to be the Person Who Stands in Front of a Tank to Stop It and Continute Military Work in Afghanistan.

– And Leslie Morgan Steiner goes out on a limb at MommyTrack’d with Why I Love Sarah Palin!

Plenty of fabulous writing and food for thought.  And for discussion.  Go ahead — I’ve got LOTS of room in my comments!

A couple of weeks ago, I shared my story about domestic violence and wondered what would have happened if I had needed care and had been turned away, as many women are, musing with only half-hearted humor that soon just being alive would be considered a pre-existing condition.

We’re really not so far away from that today.  Please take a moment today to share your story about health care or health insurance disparities and also to contact Congress to make sure that the 95 percent of insurance companies that practice gender rating on policies stop and charge women the same amount they charge men for the identical coverage.

Just something to keep in mind when people say they can’t make something happen.  Maybe it’s more that they won’t than they can’t.

I don’t hear the women Senators and Representatives calling for an end to coverage for male-only maladies.  There is a serious lack of compassion and understanding about women’s lives today among the older generations of men on Capitol Hill.  And if that’s not bad enough, some Congressmen don’t even want to help their constituents:

Maybe we just need to vote out our representatives who don’t believe health care for all is a human right.  Government might not be the answer to everything, but allowing corporate insurance companies to make health care decisions that benefit their shareholders and their CEOs at the expense of American lives also isn’t an acceptable answer any longer.

Maybe if some big insurance company denies coverage for Congressman Coburn or one of his male colleagues we could get things moving.

Here are all 262 pages of it. I’m going to try to take a stab at it after my panel on Gaining Power through New Media.