Chicago and Springfield, U.S.A. — The Republican led U.S. House of Representatives wasted taxpayer dollars playing a partisan game on Wednesday, when they voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

It represented the 33rd time Congress has attempted to repeal the Act, even though the measure is destined for certain defeat in the U.S. Senate. Keith Kelleher, President of SEIU Healthcare Illinois and Indiana, uniting 91,000 health care and child care workers, issued the following statement in response:

At a time when Congress should put its full attention on the country’s economic recovery, the U.S. House Republicans squandered a day at the office Wednesday when they voted for a politically motivated and legislatively futile repeal of President Obama’s landmark health care reform.

While average Americans need Congress to focus intensely on policies that will create jobs, make college education more affordable, reduce the federal deficit and generally improve our economic fortunes, the House Republicans chose to spend the day on a blatant political stunt. The attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act is considered dead on arrival in the Senate, so Wednesday’s vote was an exercise in empty symbolism, wasting time, energy and public dollars that should have been marshaled to accelerate our economic revitalization.

In response to today’s vote we will be informing our union members of all of Illinois’ Congressional members who voted to deny Illinois citizens quality, affordable health care. In the wake of last month’s U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the Affordable Care Act, the time has come for opponents of the bill to dispense with partisan gamesmanship and move on to the business at hand: putting more Americans to work.

Congress should let the Affordable Care Act continue to work for the people of Illinois.

According to the Campaign for Better Health Care, the law has already generated the following rewards in Illinois:

• More than 3.6 million residents became entitled to preventative medical services, such as mammograms and colonoscopies, without having to pay deductibles or co-pays.
• More than 100,000 uninsured young adults under the age of 26 became eligible for coverage under the parents’ health insurance.
• More than 150,000 seniors with Medicare received a $250 rebate to cover the cost of their prescription drugs once they hit the so-called donut hole.

For all of these reasons, members of Congress who voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act must explain to Illinois voters why they chose to deny health security to their constituents and why they oppose providing quality and affordable health care for all Americans.

Image Courtesy of  Jose Gil / Shutterstock.com

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Chicago, U.S.A. – Just ahead of a major U.S. Senate vote on the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to clean up mercury and other toxic air pollutants, a Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) report shows that the 25 worst coal-fired power plants account for more than half of the dangerous mercury pollution emitted by the total of 144 electricity generation facilities in the Great Lakes region. The report also finds that almost 90 percent of the toxic emissions could be eliminated with off-the-shelf technologies.

According to ”Poisoning the Great Lakes: Mercury Emissions from Coal-Fired Power Plants In the Great Lakes Region,” Ohio emits the largest amount of mercury from coal-fired power plants (21 percent of the total in the Great Lakes region), followed closely by Pennsylvania (20 percent) and Indiana (16 percent). The remaining five states in the region rank as follows: Michigan (14 percent); Illinois (11 percent); Wisconsin (9.5 percent); Minnesota (6.5 percent); and New York (2 percent). Plants from outside the region also contribute to mercury pollution in the Great Lakes.

The Great Lakes region’s five worst coal-fired power plants for mercury pollution are: Shawville (Clearfield County, PA); Monroe (Monroe County, MI); Homer City (Indiana County, PA); Cardinal (Jefferson County, OH); and Sherburne County (Sherburne County, MN). (See the complete list below of the worst 25.) A dozen power plants in Ohio and Indiana – owned in whole or part by American Electric Power — accounted for 19 percent of all mercury emitted in 2010 from the total of 144 coal-fired power plants in the region.

U.S. Senator James Inhofe, R-OK, recently filed a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to void health standards reducing mercury and other toxic air pollution from power plants and to permanently block EPA from re-issuing similar safeguards.

Thomas Cmar, attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council office in Chicago, said: ”Mercury is a dangerous brain poison that doesn’t belong in our Great Lakes. It puts the health of kids and pregnant women at risk and adds an unwelcome danger to eating what our fishermen catch. That’s why it is so important that we support the EPA’s standards to reduce mercury pollution by holding polluters accountable. Even more critical is that every single U.S. Senator from the region stand up for the Lakes by rejecting reckless attempts to derail the long overdue Clean Air Act updates that can help tame this problem.”

Cindy Copeland, report author and formerly with the EPA Air Program, said: “Mercury is poisoning the Great Lakes and the three states – Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania – that impose no rules are by far the worst offenders. Airborne mercury from coal-fired power plants in the Great Lakes Region harms our health, and the benefits of reducing mercury emissions are well worth the cost. With a reduction of health costs to the economy at up to $90 billion, it is hard to say no to this.”

In the Great Lakes region, there are more than 144 coal-fired power plants which pumped over 13,000 pounds of mercury into the air in 2010. Mercury pollution from these plants’ region accounts for close to 25 percent of the nation’s total. The Great Lakes region is comprised of the five Great Lakes (Erie,Ontario, Huron, Michigan, and Superior) and the eight surrounding states (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan,Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Wisconsin).

Eating poisoned fish is the primary cause of mercury poisoning of humans. Mercury is a neurotoxin that harms the brain, heart, central nervous system, kidneys, lungs, and immune system. Young children and developing fetuses are most at risk, and can suffer developmental problems from mercury poisoning.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently issued nationwide rules to require coal-fired power plants to limit airborne mercury emissions and other toxic air pollutants by 2015. The technologies to meet the EPA’s mercury limits are widely available and effective.

Based on projected reductions in fine particulate emissions due to the combined benefits of various air toxic pollution controls, the EPA has projected that the benefits of its Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) far outweigh the costs of pollution controls. The health benefits of the MATS are projected to be worth $37 to $90 billion in 2016 alone. The EPA has projected that the majority of the benefits would be reaped in the eastern United States, including the Great Lakes region.

Mercury emitted into the air from coal-fired power plants is by far the leading man-made source of mercury reaching the Great Lakes and the lakes, rivers, and streams of the Great Lakes region. This report lists the top 25 mercury emitting plants in the region. Mercury pollution from plants outside the region also contributes to the overall quantity of mercury found in the Great Lakes. When coal is burned to produce electricity, mercury is emitted into the air. The EPA estimates that coal-fired power plants are the largest man-made source of mercury pollution, accounting for 50 percent of mercury air emissions in the United States.

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An 18-year old Indiana boy is facing serious charges because of a senior prank that did not injure anyone. Tyell Morton, a Rushville, Indiana high school senior, was arrested last week after he was caught on surveillance video dressed in a dark hooded sweatshirt and wearing latex gloves. The video showed Morton initially with a package and then leaving without it.

Because of the suspicious nature of Morton’s actions, the school was evacuated and the Indiana bomb squad was called in to investigate. Instead of explosives or other dangerous materials, the package contained a blow-up doll and was left in the girl’s restroom. Morton admitted to pulling the prank and police arrested him with felony criminal mischief charges.

“It’s not right…” says Morton.”It was a senior prank. They’re blowing it out of proportion. I didn’t hurt anybody. I didn’t intend to embarrass anybody. What did I do wrong? Ya know?”

School officials complain that the prank cost them eight thousand dollars. Prosecutors and law enforcement in the county also believe that the boy should be seriously prosecuted. “In this post-Columbine world, that’s what you get when these kinds of things happen,” Rush County prosecutor Phil Caviness stated.

And that is where the problem lies. We are always reactionary. And we look at things in black and white. Yes, Morton’s behavior would appear odd on camera and the school reacted quickly. Instead of being satisfied that there was no disaster and that everything worked as it should have, the school and the county are pissed off. Why? It is just like a drill. And why would anyone advocate ruining a young man’s life because of the prank? He is 18 years old. He did not have any idea of the potential consequences. And now the county is willing to waste a great deal more money on trying Morton and jailing Morton to punish him for wasting money. Does that make any freaking sense?

If Morton is convicted, he could face eight years in prison. Even though Morton has never been in trouble before and is a good student, he is banned from school property and not allowed to attend graduation. “A senior prank, get put in jail? I hate to see what they put you in jail for nowadays, ya know?” says Morton.

It should be noted that Morton is not white and clearly not rich. No rich prep school boy would ever be arrested for a senior prank. It wouldn’t happen. But, the government is more than willing to gamble on this boy’s future to prove how tough they are. Yeah, pick on a young kid. That makes you one step above a wife beater.

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The NBC “Parks and Recreation” star Amy Poehler has proudly endorsed Planned Parenthood on Monday. Amy Poehler wrote a fundraising email for the non-profit organization is featured on the Planned Parenthood homepage. Poehler is defending the woman’s health care center from Republican attacks. Four states have passed legislation to de-fund the organization.

“You know who is awesome? Cecile Richards. She’s the president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America,” Poehler says. “Every single doctor and nurse and receptionist and volunteer who shows up at a Planned Parenthood health center to make sure that every person who walks through their door gets the care they need,” Amy wrote in her email.

“Think about your friends, or your sister, or your daughter, son, niece, or nephew. Think about every person out there who has nowhere else to go, nobody else to count on, nobody but Planned Parenthood,” writes Poehler to supporters of the organization. “It’s up to us to make sure Planned Parenthood is strong enough to protect their rights and their health. Especially because we are having a moment right now when people are trying to come up with new ways to make the lives of all the folks who rely on Planned Parenthood pretty difficult.”She concludes her letter by asking readers to join her in “saying that Planned Parenthood is awesome.”

Meanwhile, red states across the country are viciously attacking Planned Parenthood, falsely claiming that the non-profit somehow profits off of providing abortions. In Indiana, a judge sided with Planned Parenthood last week and ordered an injunction preventing the law that would have block Planned Parenthood from accepting Medicaid in the state from taking effect. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services already denounced the defunding law in a letter issued earlier this month because the proposed change violates federal Medicaid rules by denying Medicaid patients the freedom to choose a qualified provider. Judge Tanya Walton Pratt stated that the federal government’s statement was a factor in her decision.

“Denying the injunction could pit the federal government against the State of Indiana in a high-stakes political impasse,” she told the court. “And if dogma trumps pragmatism and neither side budges, Indiana’s most vulnerable citizens could end up paying the price as the collateral damage of a partisan battle. With this backdrop in mind, along with the reasons discussed above, the Court believes the most prudent course of action is to enjoin the defunding provision while the judicial process runs its course.”

As a result of the injunction, PPIN will immediately resume serving its Medicaid patients, many of whom had been using it as their primary health provider.  “This decision will have immediate, positive consequences for our patients and our organization,” Planned Parenthood of Indiana President and CEO Betty Cockrum said in a statement. “This ruling allows us to resume providing Pap tests, breast exams, STD testing and treatment and birth control to both existing and new Medicaid patients.”

Image Courtesy of  http://www.flickr.com/photos/rubenstein_/

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In Indiana, a measure has been introduced in the House that would require medical doctors to tell women seeking abortion that having the procedure comes with risks including “the possibility of increased risk of breast cancer following an induced abortion and the natural protective effect of a completed pregnancy in avoiding breast cancer.”   Indiana isn’t the only state that makes this claim either. According to the Guttmacher Institute, five states — Alaska, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Texas and West Virginia — currently include some mention of a link between abortion and breast cancer in written counseling materials.

The connection between breast cancer and abortion that these state governments and other abortion opponents refer to comes from outdated data that has since been proven to be faulty.  Since 1981, several dozen studies looking at a potential link between abortions and a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer have been published. Many of the older studies alleging a link between breast cancer and abortion were flawed; some studies included only a small sample size and most of the older studies were dependent upon self-reporting abortion data which is a scientifically unreliable method.

The American Cancer Society (ACS) and other major health organizations have soundly rejected any potential link between breast cancer and abortions.  Over eight years ago, the U.S. National Cancer Institute brought together “more than 100 of the world’s leading experts who study pregnancy and breast cancer risk.” They found that neither induced nor spontaneous abortions lead to an increase in breast cancer risk. In fact, the risk is actually increased for a short period after a woman carries a pregnancy to full term.  According to ACS, these findings were considered “well established,” which is the highest level for scientific evidence.

Even recently, in June 2009, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Committee on Gynecologic Practice wrote, “Early studies of the relationship between prior induced abortion and breast cancer risk were methodologically flawed. More rigorous recent studies demonstrate no causal relationship between induced abortion and a subsequent increase in breast cancer risk.”

The largest, and probably the most reliable study on this topic, was conducted during the 1990s in Denmark, a country with very detailed medical records on all its citizens. In this study, all Danish women born between 1935 and 1978 (a total of 1.5 million women) were linked with the National Registry of Induced Abortions and with the Danish Cancer Registry. All of the information about their abortions and their breast cancer came from registries – it was very complete and was not influenced by recall bias. After adjusting for known breast cancer risk factors, the researchers found that induced abortion(s) had no overall effect on the risk of breast cancer. The size of this study and the manner in which it was done provides good evidence that induced abortion does not affect a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer.

Another prospective study was published by Harvard researchers in 2007.  The study included more than 100,000 women between the ages of 20 and 46 at the beginning of the study in 1993. These women were followed until 2003. They were asked about childbirths and abortions at the start of the study so recall bias was unlikely to be a problem. After adjusting for known breast cancer risk factors, the researchers found no link between either spontaneous or induced abortions and breast cancer.

The California Teachers Study also reported on more than 100,000 women in 2008. Researchers asked the women in 1995 about past induced and spontaneous abortions. While the women were being followed in the study, more than 3,300 developed invasive breast cancer. There was no difference in breast cancer risk between the group who had either spontaneous or induced abortions and those who had not had an abortion.

The research is clear that there is no link between abortions and breast cancer.  However, many abortion foes continue to purport the myth, suggesting that pregnancy somehow protects women against breast cancer.  It is a dangerous myth that even the governments are now spreading along for their own purposes.  Women need to have the facts about breast cancer so that they can take the necessary steps to try to prevent it.  Scaring women into believing a lie does nothing to prevent breast cancer.

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