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Wednesday, April 22, 2009

HR20

A friend of mine had this on his facebook account this afternoon:

What would you do if you were declared by a subjective Q&A to be unable to take your newborn baby from the hospital? http://www.dailypaul.com/node/89675

So I went to Ron Paul's site and read what he had to say. And then I went to the government website and read HR20.

I don't see ANYWHERE in the HR20 where a mother will be asked a subjective Q&A. And if they were, I'm not sure I'd object.

Questions like: "Do you feel you could hurt your baby, on purpose, if you took them home?" seem straightforward and justifiable for delaying sending the infant home.

I do have some issues with some of the wording in the bill. I believe in supporting issues, but think that non-profit organizations are far better equipped to handle the day to day research and management of specific issues. And although some of these funds will go to non-profits, my fear is that an already burdened oversized Department of Health and Human Services will end up taking on the oversight of these programs and is this just one more step in our process toward universal healthcare?

What do you think?

4 comments:

ThatsBaloney said...

I think this is frightening. I didn't check the website yet.

Dana said...

I do think the wording is a bit vague on HR20. A lot of unanswered questions: Exactly what rubric is to used to determine a passing score, what is the criteria they are looking for, who specifically is going to make the determination, etc...

Because I have a basic distrust of our government and believe they should grow smaller, this is just another step into a once off-limits area. On a practical level, how do you determine post-partum before one leaves the hospital as it frequently doesn't materialize and manifest itself until one is at home with the baby? Also, what business is this of the government? Women are already under the care of an o.b. and there is a nursing staff that is regularly attending to new mommies in the hospital. Also, most women are only in the hospital for less than 24 hours for a normal birth (get 'em in, get 'em out), so who isn't going to appear a little crazy after such a cataclysmic event?

I don't like this bill and I don't like the implications.

Dana said...

p.s. excuse my poor wording, a long day and too pooped to correct it!

Swizz said...

I know it doesn't mention the "test" per se, but how many people will choose home births if this truly comes into play?

I'd love to know more details. Mushy wording just leaves so many loopholes, IMO.