Access

Nicholas Kristof has a great op-ed in the New York Times today. He points out that if people have access to medical care, they don't get sick and die as easily. Imagine that. I thought I would share excerpts.

"Partly because of lack of access, American health statistics are notorious: Our children are two-and-a-half times as likely to die before the age of 5 as children in Sweden. American women are 11 times as likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth as Irish women. The average person in Honduras or Vietnam is expected to live longer than the average African-American in New Orleans."

That's nice, you say, but what if tax dollars go to funding abortions? Isn't that reason enough to kill the whole bill? Again, a question of access:

"The United States has one-third more abortions per 1,000 women of reproductive age than Canada, and more than twice as many as Germany.... While countries with liberal social policies typically make abortion accessible and cheap, they make other elements of health care accessible and cheap as well — such as contraception and child care."

I haven't actually had the chance to talk with anyone who opposes healthcare reform. Are you one of them? What do you think?