I don't understand people who think public insurance should cover

abortions but should not cover transgendering operations. Some DUers apparently hold such an opinion.

Seems like an inconsistent opinion to me. If one supports human rights, why not support all of them?

While at DU, nowadays, you are expected to get in line with whatever the status quo is, the latest thing.

If you are for GLBT rights all the way, you are generally shot down and told to go get on the Whambulance, quit whining about your "single issue," and to quit discriminating against Christians, and other such nonsense.

I'm one of the few left who hasn't been TSed for believing in GLBT rights all the way. Many posters left here, any more, exhibit a half-assed lip-service kind of support for GLBT rights.

So who are you talking about, and what are you talking about?

Please clarify.

And I will not name specific DUers since that is against the forum rules.

allowed.

Transgendering operations are not 'vanity' surgeries, like a face lift or boob job. I don't have any problem with it.

It seems simple to me.

There are people who have scarring from injury and illness and repairing the damage to their appearance, IMO, is anything but elective.

most people care more deeply about issues that affect THEM or people like them. If they care about "human rights" it is because they define that phrase to mean "support of my pet issue".

Do we have some agreed-upon definition of 'human rights'? Does it include the right to have other people pay for any medical procedures I decide to undertake? Does this include alternative medicine too? Explain to me your concept of human rights.

And should be equally free to pursue happyness

:shrug:

the line will be drawn at 'medically necessary', just as it is now. The cost of public paying for elective procedures would be beyond the public's (or anyone's) ability to pay.

If an RX for viagra is NOT elective, then the other two are not any different.

I consider viagra to be elective BTW.

...and I thank you for that. So many think that dick repairs with Viagra is soooooo necessary, but an abortion? Totally elective unless the woman is dying and there better be 25 doctors who swear to it.

:hi:

I'm not a doctor. If the medical/scientific community recognizes a particular procedure to be medically necessary under some circumstances, it should be covered if those circumstances apply.

I see no reason that these medical procedures should not be covered. After all that is what medicine is all about ~~ healing people.

It may be desirable for a patient's mental health but it is not necessary for the patient's survival.

Yes, it may be necessary for someone to survive. There are people who are born with the wrong body and many have suffered depression and suicide attempts for all their lives.

That is not an elective procedure to repair their mental good health by fixing what is wrong for them ~~ they are in the wrong body and from what I have read, they suffer because of this physical, medical issue.

BTW: I am straight and have never experienced anything like this, but I can understand and try to understand what a hell that must be and how the surgery to correct this is sooooooo not like a facelift or some other bullshit like that. So if I said this wrong in some way, it was not meant to insult, but meant to support who are gay, bi, trans or whatever that I am very aware that they are being shoved out of the tent again.

JMHO