It is Time

 

 

Proposed legislation in Michigan would allow health care practitioners to refuse to provide any procedure or prescription for any moral reason. In the past that has been confined to abortion. In the new legislation the morality clause can be applied to almost anything - from contraception to Viagra. Indeed, I wonder if the men who promote this Bill really intend for it to be so broad. If they realize that it enables physicians to refuse to prescribe Viagra and pharmacists to refuse to fill those prescriptions, I wonder if they would be so eager. I would bet on a clause to exclude Viagra and other ED prescriptions. Otherwise, the men in the state would raise a huge outcry. What they need to realize is that what is good for the goose is good for the gander.

The hypocrisy in Lansing seems to run rampant these days. Not only are the male Republican legislators working to regulate women's healthcare they also are trying to force drug testing on people who receive welfare in Michigan. So the poor who receive state money must be tested for drugs but the legislators (who are paid by the state) and corporations (CEO's presumably) are not. This hypocritical tactic has already been tried and found wanting in Florida. Meant to save the state money, it cost thousands of times more than it saved. Only about 5%of welfare recipients ever tested positive. What would happen if state legislators were tested one could only imagine.

It is very easy to legislate morality for those who are either voiceless or oppressed but those values are never enforced for the oppressor (almost always straight, white men). There comes a time when the oppressed rise up and say with one voice, "no more!" It is that time. It is time for women to say, "no more!" It is time for the poor to say, "no more!" and it is time for the LGBT community to say, "It is time for love to triumph over hate." It is past time.

Internships For Those Who Don't Fit The Mold

I know that most internships are about giving bright young people hands on experience (and providing cheap labor) but what if there was a model where there were internships set up and designed for people (of all ages) who have been overlooked for various reasons even though they are ALSO bright and talented? Yes, it would take more work but is there no one who is willing to go that extra mile? People with Asperger's could be writers or IT in an office or do research. Yes, it would take more work to design an internship for an individual but the hand up it gives could do wonders for the person and help the person's prospects for employment, thus reducing the overall cost to society. 

Many people with Asperger's Syndrome are chronically underemployed or unemployed. Setting up internships for those who are capable, on the higher end of the Autism Spectrum could be a way to reduce that burden to them and to society. The same might be true with other forms of disability or even those workers who have been unemployed for a long time through no fault of their own. Many people simply need a hand up, not a hand-out.

Is there ANYONE out there with an interest in a project like this? 

*ALL content herein is the opinion of the author