Rep. Cynthia Davis is not thrilled with the so-called "Promiscuous Partner Bill," which slipped through the legislature during the last week of the session:
While I feel very positive about the legislative accomplishments of this session, one of the most worthless bills that survived the legislative process will become law. There’s an old expression that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The last day of session the legislature sent a bill to the governor’s desk that is like putting a band-aid on a gun shot wound and does nothing to actually solve the problem. The root cause of many public healthcare issues stems from sexual promiscuity. The cost for living an immoral lifestyle has an economic impact on our state, which ultimately costs the taxpayers.
Some call this the “Doggie Bag” bill or the “Promiscuous Partner” bill. It is about “buy one, get one free” drugs to treat two sexually transmitted diseases. HB 1375 allows doctors to give out extra prescriptions to the sexual partner(s) who are too low to even show up at a free STD clinic and get their own prescription. The state may pay for both the doctor visit and the drugs. When this bill came through my Healthcare Policy Committee, I was successful in adding an amendment that would at least require the anonymous person to fill out a “health history” form. This would disclose any known allergies. The senate stripped this provision out of the bill.
Attempting to remove more natural consequences yet, the senators added another section to the bill requiring the state to produce a brochure encouraging parents to get their children the HPV vaccine. This is a vaccine for another STD. Were it for people being responsible, faithful and moral, this would not have been a topic of discussion! So the state’s answer is to push the drug company’s remedies so that people can get worse diseases that will not be cured with a simple pill or shot. There is no drug ever made that can fix a broken heart or a broken conscience.
During the debate I argued that this vaccine has had some negative reactions and questioned why we are involving the state in part of the marketing strategy for private “For-Profit” companies. If the drug companies want to sell more vaccines, they ought to be the ones promoting their products, not the government. This is one difference between free markets and socialistic governments.
Why should the government be involved in promoting something that may harm our citizens? Follow this link to read an article on HPV vaccine deaths: safety-analysis
Good public policy is about standing up for what is right, not what is “politically popular”. Several other Representatives joined me in voting against this bill. Tom Dempsey from St. Charles also deserves credit for being one of seven Senators who did not support this bill. However the majority of the General Assembly passed it.
So what is the ounce of cure? The only real hope is for parents to teach their children the benefits of chastity.
8 comments:
I have never encountered a free STD clinic. Planned Parenthood charges $75 to screen for the top four STD's and HIV. It may be free to you if you have medicaid. Anyone else know where these free STD clinics are at? Birth control pills and comdoms are not given out free at Planned Parenthood, either. Birth control pills cost $30+ a month.
Cervical cancer, cervical cancer for all women and girls. No need to be protected from it, just get it and die, so we can cut down on the surplus population. Also, castrate your sons and give your daughters female circumcisions so they will stop having their natural, God-intended desires and we can stop STDs, like this horrendous case of herpes I got from my 57-year-old college professor when I was 19.
If only there were no such thing as rape or incest.
What is good public policy, Cynthia? It is policy that addresses public concerns and makes the world a better place for everyone, including the taxpayers. I think we can be assured that sex is not ending anytime soon. It would be nice if all of us were responsible and adult about it, and protected ourselves and our partners from diseases and unwanted pregnancy. But that doesn't always happen, and even if you are a responsible adult, accidents do happens and so do situations beyond your control. I knew a young woman in her 20s who couldn't afford to pay for her birth control pills and thought she would be OK until she could afford some in a few weeks. Well, no, she wasn't OK. She ended up pregnant and out of wedlock, and was faced with making a decision to either have the baby or terminate the pregnancy. She couldn't afford birth control pills. Do you think she could afford a baby?
A decent public policy would make these situations of unwanted pregnancy and STD transmission much less prevalent. That policy would create free clinics for sexual and reproductive health for those people who can't afford to go to a doctor. The public would be better off as a result, with fewer unwanted mouths to be fed by the taxpayers, and less risk of getting an STD the next time they had a sexual encounter.
Chastity is a sweet concept. But it ain't gonna fly, Cynthia. Human nature being what it is, it ain't gonna happen. And, as for good public policy, we don't have one right now for sexual/reproductive health issues, and the reason for that is all the hoopla about abortion from the radical right.
Ms. Davis, someone in your position of power has an obligation to make fully informed decisions. Please, please read this: http://std.about.com/od/prevention/tp/toptencompsexed.htm
I do not need to read any reports! I just do what my preacher tells me!
Pinkie,
Put a rubber on it. Duh!
Your young woman friend in her 20s sounds to be not smarter than you are on this subject.
If doesn't have the good sense to use protection, why should I pay the penalty for her ignorance.
Foam it, slap a rubber on it, take the pill or just say NO. Good Grief Gertrude!
@anonymous 9:29 - where did you get the idea that you footed any bill for my young friend? First of all, I never said anything about what happened, and I'm not going to. None of your business. But I can assure you that no public money was expended in her behalf for anything. She paid for her healthcare herself. As for the birth control issue, this is the problem: if we don't make it available and easy to obtain, even for women who don't have money, then the public will end up paying. Your attitude is also obvious, in that you consider women to be contemptible. What about the man involved? Does he get off scott free? You need to change your attitude.
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