Today's News (2019/12/25)

[solarbird]

Trump Has Told Friends That Gutting Medicare Could Be a Fun “Second-Term Project”
Republicans want Trump to deal with the exploding deficit by gutting the social safety net, and the president is reportedly receptive to the idea.
**** AUGUST 22, 2019 ****
**** NOTE THIS IS NOT RECENT BUT I THINK IT NEEDS REFRESHING *****
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/08/donald-trump-republicans-federal-deficit

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Trump’s Mar-A-Lago Winter Vacation Pushes Taxpayer Golf Tab Above $118 million
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-golf-again-mar-a-lago-118-million_n_5dfe5f85e4b05b08bab65fad?998

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Christian Post Journalist Resigns Over Planned Editorial Praising Trump
The editorial is in response to a Christianity Today editorial published last week that condemns President Donald Trump.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/christian-post-journalist-resigns-trump-editorial_n_5e0251bee4b05b08babb4148

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Tulsi Gabbard, encouraged by Trump, may seek spoiler role
https://news.yahoo.com/tulsi-gabbard-encouraged-by-trump-may-seek-spoiler-role-175507843.html

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McConnell flexes reelection muscle with $1B gift for Kentucky
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/475831-mcconnell-flexes-reelection-muscle-with-1b-gift-for-kentucky

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Facebook took down our fact-check on medically necessary abortions. That’s dangerous.
**** SEPTEMBER 15, 2019 *****
**** NOTE THIS IS NOT RECENT BUT I THINK IT NEEDS REFRESHING *****
By Daniel Grossman and Robyn Schickler
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/09/15/facebook-took-down-our-fact-check-medically-necessary-abortions-thats-dangerous/

_Daniel Grossman is a professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of California at San Francisco and director of Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health. Robyn Schickler is a practicing obstetrician-gynecologist and a fellow of Physicians for Reproductive Health._

...

Last month, the anti-abortion group Live Action posted a video to the Facebook page of its founder Lila Rose, claiming abortion was never medically necessary, and Facebook asked the fact-checking site Health Feedback to review it. Health Feedback reached out to us as medical professionals, and we both commented that the video was inaccurate.

What happened next seems less shocking in an era when politicians routinely dismiss fact as fiction: Republican Sens. Josh Hawley (Mo.), Ted Cruz (Tex.), Kevin Cramer (N.D.), and Mike Braun (Ind.) sent a letter to Facebook complaining that the fact-check was biased, and Facebook responded by removing our assessment. Rose’s inaccurate video remains posted.

This is wrong. Ask any obstetrician and they will surely have a tale to recount: A woman’s water breaks at 20 weeks, and she develops signs of infection — not only in her uterus but in her blood; a patient with a placenta previa, where the placenta covers the uterine opening, begins to have heavy bleeding at 19 weeks; a woman pregnant at 21 weeks develops severe preeclampsia, characterized by high blood pressure, that affects her liver. These babies cannot survive outside the uterus, and an abortion is medically indicated to save the woman’s life.

...

Everyone is entitled to his or her views of abortion, but promulgating misinformation about when abortion is medically necessary is dangerous. In many cases in which termination of pregnancy is necessary, the parents strongly desire the pregnancy, and they are devastated to learn that they have a complication that will result in the loss of their baby. There is a risk that patients may choose to delay necessary care because they have heard conflicting information from advocates, which may put women’s lives at risk. For those who have survived this kind of complication in pregnancy and lost their baby, it is traumatizing to be told what they did was medically unnecessary. Given that we are in the middle of a crisis of rising maternal mortality, which disproportionately affects black women, it is concerning that some are calling for the restriction of life-saving care during pregnancy.

Comments

[ossobuco]

Thank you for continuing to do this. I'm sure it isn't easy, and I appreciate being able to get a quick window into what I really need to know.

[solarbird]

Glad it's of some use.

I have a long history of this sort of information collection.

Amélie Lacroix in on overcoming the fear of spiders is basically just me, turned up. At least, in that.