November 7 Newsletter

Congratulations! (The Tired Version)

1. Congrats (and a note on abortion)

2. My Breakfast with the Anti-War, Pro-Environmentalist Wing of Our Lady of Grace Parish

3. Your Comments: Event Tomorrow

4. Your Comments: Event this Friday

5. Your Comments: G's recommendation

6. Your Comments: S's recommendation

7. Connecticut Army Reservist Who Asked Senator Lieberman to Stop Taking Insurance Money Remains In Jail

8. A Tale of Two Protests

1. Congratulations on passing the House Bill! They couldn't have done it without YOU!

Marta told me she found it a bittersweet victory, given the Stupak amendment. I think all genuine victories are necessarily bittersweet victories.

My admittedly naive hope: As one of the major goals of health care reform is to reduce unnecessary procedures by increasing access to primary/preventive care, shouldn't the very fact that more women will have access to primary care (and thereby birth control) reduce the overall demand for abortion?

And if demand for abortion could be reduced through prevention, wouldn't it also reduce the need for federal funding for abortion? In the meantime, should pro-choice individuals make additional donations to Planned Parenthood and small clinics to cover the gap?

2. My Breakfast with the Anti-War, Pro-Environmentalist Wing of the Catholic Church

They're called Pax Christi, and they didn't even talk about abortion on Saturday morning at their local health care forum in Castro Valley - they're too focused on expanding care to everyone and moving on to education and climate change. (Walking the walk: they picked me up from BART in an electric vehicle they made themselves.)

3. Your Comments: Event Tomorrow

Jeff wrote: "I heard today about a rally to be held Sunday at City Hall at 2 pm. The Children's Defense Fund is hosting a rally to advocate adequate, affordable healthcare for ALL kids in the U.S. The Single-Payer folks will be there too, although the CDF wants the focus to be simply on healthcare for kids, not necessarily on single-payer."

I checked it out, it looks good, here's a link for the event. I have a previous engagement, but am tempted to skip it to go to the rally... the stroller brigade sounds priceless.

4. Your Comments: Event on Friday

L. is putting together a MoveOn event for this Friday at noon at Pete Stark's Fremont office. I don't yet have a link, but should have one soon. So please, please mark your calendars for this Friday, at noon, at Pete Stark's Fremont office.

5. Your Comments: From G.

G. sent this - I think it's ESSENTIAL. It's basically a challenge to get more than 100,000 names on Congressman Anthony Weiner's online petition in support of the public option BEFORE the senate calls for a vote.

6. Your Comments: From S.

S. is one of my favorite 1200'ers, because he always manages to show up for a protest, and usually in a suit, which loans the fight against the for-profit insurance industry some needed sartorial credibility. (If you have to go up against the suits, wear a suit!)

He forwarded a reply from Feinstein's office to his letter in support of the public option, and included his own note: "Eva: I just got this message from Feinstein. I think she (Feinstein) has moved a long way since our confrontation in her building lobby. Congratulations to us. I also contributed to the Mobilization bail fund." (Editor's note: NICE! And see below.) "Keep up the good work. We are almost there."

7. Connecticut Army Reservist Who Engaged in Civil Disobedience in Senator Lieberman's Office Remains In Jail

It's not just the Army Reservist John Morhbacher, but 29-year-old Kai Newkirk, who are still in jail. Newkirk is now fasting, which, given his distance runner's frame, doesn't strike me as something he can afford to continue for too long. They are demanding that all our elected officials refuse to take any more money from the insurance industry. As mentioned, S. donated to their bailout fund, and you can, too. Here's a video of Kai Newkirk. The boys go back to court on Tuesday. Let's at least sign their petitions, and raise a glass to them.

8. A Tale of Two Protests

Amid all this activity, I never got around to writing up the Berkeley Students for Health Care Reform "Die-In" on October 27, which was held the day before the sit-in in downtown SF. I'm working on a comparison of the two events.

Many thanks for hanging in there. Try to get some rest, we'll have a selection of new events and news for you this coming week.