Judge Overrules Religous Objections to Vaccinations

Increasingly America is facing a rise in diseases formerly almost wholly eradicated through vaccination programs.  So what is causing the near epidemic situation in some regions?  Parents who refuse to have their children vaccinated based on claimed religious beliefs.  Like some many other things the Christofascist do in the name of "religious freedom," the refusal to have children vaccinated reflects a total disregard for the health and safety of others.  The motto of the Christofascists ought to be "It's all about me - everyone else, go f*ck yourself."  As the judge in the ruling in New York State concluded, the Christofascist movement against Vaccinations poses a public health threat.  Here are highlights from a piece in the Huffington Post:

Judge William F. Kuntz II has ruled to uphold a New York City policy that bars unvaccinated children from attending school when another student has a disease preventable by a vaccination, reports The New York Times.

In the ruling, Kuntz wrote that the Supreme Court, "strongly suggested that religious objectors are not constitutionally exempt from vaccinations."

Three families filing suit contended that the school policy preventing their unvaccinated children from attending school at risky times is a First Amendment violation of religious freedom. The Brooklyn Eagle reported that Nicole Phillips, Fabian Mendoza-Vaca and Dina Check had decided not to vaccinate their children on the grounds of "sincere religious belief."

From a public health standpoint, the small unvaccinated percentage of the population threatens efforts to eradicate preventable diseases from society. Depending on the contagiousness of the specific disease, a certain percentage of the population must be vaccinated in order to prevent an outbreak, due to a phenomenon known as "herd immunity," reports The Times. For highly contagious diseases like measles, that percentage is as high as 95%, which means that even a few unvaccinated children could pose a hazard to an entire school.

Kuntz cited a 109-year-old ruling on public health as a precedent in this case. He also pointed to a more recent Brooklyn federal court decision that said, "the free exercise clause of the First Amendment does not provide a right for religious objectors to be exempt from New York's compulsory inoculation law.”

 I'm sorry, but these Christofascist are not only incredibly selfish but  they are insane to boot.  Kudos to Judge Kuntz.

Study: Marriage Leads to Improved Health for Same-Sex Headed Families

The Christofascists and their simpering political whores in the Republican Party who oppose same sex marriage always claim to be "concerned about the children" - even as they are only too willing to throw the children of same sex couples onto the trash heap along with their gay or lesbian parents.  Actions speak louder than words and by their opposition to marriage equality these individuals and "family values" organizations demonstrate that they truly do not give a damn about the children of same sex couples.  Now, a new study published in The New England Journal of Medicine finds that marriage equality has positive effects on public health by improving access to healthcare for same-sex couples and their children and reducing stresses.  Thus, in reality, the Christofascists are harming the children.  Deliberately harming them.  Here are highlights on the study via GayRVA:

 [M]arriage equality has positive effects on public health by improving access to healthcare for same-sex couples and their children, and reducing the risks of anxiety, depression and other mental health problems when a couple’s relationship is not legally recognized.

According to the report, public health research has suggested not only that discriminatory environments and bans on same-sex marriage are detrimental to health but also that legalizing same-sex marriage (among other policies expanding protections) contributes to better health for LGBT people.

Legalizing same-sex marriage also improves access to health insurance for LGBT people, the report finds:

About 55% of Americans are covered through their own or a family member’s employer-sponsored health insurance plan, but many employers do not extend coverage to same-sex partners or children of same-sex partners. Even among companies with more than 200 employees, only 42% offer health benefits to same-sex partners, according to the 2012 Employer Health Benefits Survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research and Educational Trust.

Thus, adults in same-sex relationships are less likely than their heterosexual counterparts to have health insurance and may therefore delay or forgo necessary medical care. When states legalize same-sex marriage, some workplaces that offer employer-sponsored insurance are required to treat married same-sex couples just as they treat married opposite-sex couples.

Therefore, disparities in insurance coverage are narrower in states that permit same-sex marriage or civil unions that guarantee complete spousal rights to same-sex couples.

Same-sex marriage also strengthens access to health insurance for the 220,000 children who are being raised by same-sex parents in the United States.

[C]hildren with same-sex parents are less likely than children with married opposite-sex parents to have private health insurance. These disparities diminish when LGBT families live in states with marriage equality or laws supporting adoptions for same-sex parents.

The take away?  When Victoria Cobb, Tony Perkins and Maggie Gallagher bloviate about caring about "the children" know that they are lying.

Supporters of Sequestration Discovery They Have Screwed Themselves

As noted in prior posts, it would be wonderful if all of the lay offs and furloughs that will be the result of the sequester could be reserved for red states and those who support the GOP economic saboteurs in Congress, particularly those in the House of Representatives.  While that unfortunately isn't possible, there is going to be some perverse pleasure to be enjoyed watching many of the cretins who have cheered on the GOP suddenly discover that they have really screwed themselves.  A piece in the Washington Post looks at instances where lunatic members of the GOP base are suddenly having a real reality check.  Am I being perverse in enjoying this?  Perhaps, but these folks DO deserve what they have brought on themselves.  An analysis of state by state cuts can be found here.  Here are article highlights:

The federal budget cuts were still an abstraction as American Eagle Flight 3429 crossed the snow-crusted plains into southwestern Kansas. Kevin Colvin, a construction manager flying in for work, looked out of the window at the tiny airport below.

“They make it sound like, ‘Oh my God! We’re going to die if we make these cuts!’ ” he said, eating a potato chip, the cuts still two days away. “I think it’s a bunch of BS.”

The cuts came into clearer focus Thursday. Garden City Regional Airport would lose its air traffic controllers, saving the federal government $318,756 and leaving pilots to handle landings, takeoffs and weather conditions mostly by themselves.   “Oh,” said Dave Unruh, a retired farmer who heard the news as he waited for a flight to Dallas. “Is that part of the deal?”

By Friday, people in this solidly conservative area faced the reality that it was.

As sequestration dawned, reactions in Kansas’s 1st Congressional District ranged from disbelief to concern to a kind of defiant joy that the $85 billion in mandatory spending cuts had arrived at last. In the 2012 House elections, voters here overwhelmingly backed tea party conservative Tim Huelskamp, who recently hailed sequestration as “the first significant tea party victory” in Washington.

Not everyone here sees it that way. Mayor David Crase and airport director Rachelle Powell spent last week writing letters to Huelskamp and other elected officials urging them to save Garden City’s tower, one of 238 at relatively small airports across the country set to close beginning April 1. Crase said the closure would “undo years of investments” at the local, state and federal level. Powell warned of a decline in flights and associated revenue from fuel or fees or dinners at the popular restaurant Napoli’s at the Flight Deck. Though it was too soon to know, she worried that American Eagle might curtail the only regional jet service in and out of southwestern Kansas  .  .  .  . 

Mostly, Powell was worried about what she described as “a severe negative impact” on airport safety. .  .  .  .  Jeff De Busk, an air traffic control manager and father of six who expects to lose his job, recounted two recent near-collisions — both involving pilots on the wrong radio channel — averted by the tower. “I understand we have to cut the budget,” he said. “But this? It just doesn’t make any sense.”

Here were Judy and Earl Kleeman, retirees headed to Florida for a cruise to the Turks and Caicos Islands. “I feel strongly about the need to cut the national debt,” Judy Kleeman said, wondering whether she was willing to fly without the tower. “But I do feel strongly about education, and so many people need help. 

 Sadly, the GOP has become the party of the ignorant, uninformed,racists, religious extremists and bigots.  And it is going to do severe damage to America before it hopefully somehow reforms itself or dies a much needed death.