What Are We Doing To Each Other?

An injured Lebanese boy seeks comfort from his mother in the picture on my wall above my computer. He leans over his mother; both of them covered in blood. Her hands reaching up trying to comfort the boy’s cries. An Israeli rocket hit their van as they fled through the coastal city of Tyre in southern Lebanon.

As a currently childless woman, I can not help but fear ever being in position of fright and helplessness at the actions of other people and their effect on my future children. Should I dare ever bring another human being into this hurtful world?

-A 3-year-old boy died in Chinese hospital after ingesting pesticides and was denied medical care until his grandfather could pay for the treatment. The boy died after the grandfather left to raise money.

-Mukhtar Mai, 4 years ago, was gang-raped by four men in her village in Pakistan to punish her brother for an offense they believed he committed. Her honor destroyed, she was expected by her community and even her own family to kill herself in shame.

-Formerly ChevronTexaco dumped more than 18 billion gallons of toxic waste into the soil and water of a previously pristine section of the Amazon rain forest. Too poor to move, parents have watched their children play and their livestock feed in areas contaminated with these hazard wastes. Rene Arevalo who lived near a separation plant that was once operated by a Texaco subsidiary and lives with his five children drink contaminated water… “What else can we do?”

-Ayaan Hirsi Ali had her genitals cut out when she was 5-years-old. Her clitoris and labia were carved out and the whole area was sewn up so that a thick band of tissue forms a chastity belt made of her own scarred-flesh. “What were we being kept pure from? Somebody owned us. What was between our legs was not mine to give. I was branded.” (Infidel, Ayaan Hirsi Ali)

-Kazakhstan, Sept 2006, a government official confirmed that 55 children had contracted the H.I.V. virus through contaminated blood or used needles at a hospital.

-On an icy February morning 19 years ago on a Bronx street, Alison Dolan was left in a Bud Light box in a filthy alley. The plight of babies who are abandoned in the U.S.-left in dumpsters or gas station bathrooms or vacant lots.

-171 million children throughout the world work in hazardous conditions or with dangerous machinery.

-In less than a decade, an estimated four million people have died in the Congo, mostly of hunger and disease caused by fighting. It has been the deadliest conflict since World War II, with more than 1,000 people still dying each day. (“In Congo, Hunger and Disease Erode Democracy”, New York Times, 6/30/2006)

-88,345 homeless people live in Los Angeles and the surrounding communities. Close your eyes, and they disappear. Better yet, tell them to get a job!

-Rebecca Riley, 4-years-old dies of a drug overdose after being prescribed medication for ADHD and bipolar disorder since age 2 ½. She was 2 ½…yes, it is called ‘terrible twos’ for a reason. Nothing new but hey, pharmaceutical companies can make money and doctors kickbacks from such diagnosis’s.

-After bouts of hypertension and diabetes, Mary Rose Derks, a 65-year-old widow, scrimped money out of her grocery fund for an insurance policy that promised to pay eventually for a room in an assistant living home. After paying for the insurance, now 81, has yet to receive a penny from the Conseco Insurance while her family has paid around $70,000 in care.

All blips in the morning newspaper…if you even get one that covers such events. Wash down that bagel with your Starbucks, put your head back in the game and remember, who makes the most money wins!

Where has our compassion for one another gone?

Sovereign Anatomy

Who makes decisions about your body? New laws give physicians and hospitals the right to deny the best care…even in emergencies. A recent poll conducted by Self.com resulted in nearly 1 in 20 respondents noting an incident in which their doctor had refused to treat them for moral, ethical, or religious reasons.

“Doctors swear an oath to serve their patients. But instead, they are allowing their religious beliefs to compromise patient care,” says Jamie D. Brooks, a former staff attorney for the National Health Law Program. At the forefront of this controversy is woman’s health care.

Lori Boyer was trembling after being sexually assaulted by an acquaintance. Bruised and shaken, she drove straight to Good Samaritan Hospital in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. After speaking to a rape counselor, she met with Martin Gish, M.D. for a pelvic exam and inquired to the doctor about the morning-after pill, which the counselor had mentioned earlier. She was mid-cycle, putting her in danger of getting pregnant. “No,” replied Dr. Gish. “It’s against my religion.” Emergency contraception is most effective within ideally 72 hours. She now had to look for another doctor who was willing to put religious beliefs aside in order to prevent a forced pregnancy. “I was so vulnerable,” laments Lori. “I felt victimized all over again. First the rape and then the doctor making me feel powerless.” Luckily Boyer was able to find a physician in enough time to prescribe her EC.

“What person who has been raped would really welcome a pregnancy from that?” asks James Trussell, Ph.D., director of the Office of Population Research at Princeton University. “Even if you oppose abortion, what could be better than preventing the pregnancy in the first place?”

In the absence of any local laws, it is up to individual hospitals to decide whether a rape victim will be given – or even told about – emergency contraception. (Glamour, May 2006) In The New England Journal of Medicine survey, 8 percent of physicians said they felt no obligation to present all options to their patients. Eight percent might not seem to be a high percentage but imagine you being one of the numerous patients to a doctor that falls in that 8%. “Especially in a crisis situation, like a rape, you often don’t think to question your care. But unfortunately, now we can’t even trust doctors to tell us what we need to know,” Jill Morrison, senior counsel for health and reproductive rights at the National Women’s Law Center points out.

There have been highly publicized articles and discussions about pharmacists who have refused to dispense birth control and emergency contraception. But more and more incidents like Lori Boyer’s are being noticed.

Cheryl Bray, a single 41-year-old, had decided to adopt a baby from Mexico. Where woman are dying because they are poor and having unsafe abortions since it is illegal. Those that do go through with a pregnancy often cannot afford to raise the child and put he/she up for adoption. Being a well-respected realtor in California, Cheryl decided to open her home and her heart to one of these children. She had already gone through a long and arduous application process along with various inspections, background checks, etc. One of the last requirements was to undergo a routine physical. “So, your husband is in agreement with your decision to adopt?” inquires Fred Salley, M.D. “I’m not married,” Bray told him. “You’re not?” He calmly put down his pen Bray recalls. “Then I’m not comfortable continuing this exam.” He later stated that his “decision to refer Ms. Bray was not because she was unmarried; rather, it was based on my moral belief that a child should have two parental units. Such religious beliefs are a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States.”

So by Dr. Salley’s statement and belief that a child should have two parental units, then widows should never be allowed to raise their own children unless they immediately get remarried. Interesting! As for the second part of his statement about religious rights, Bray has a right to her beliefs just as much as Salley. “Apparently it is ok to discriminate against somebody, as long as it’s for religious reasons,” Bray surmises.

Besides the doctor’s beliefs to content with, nearly one in five hospital beds is in a religiously owned institution, according to the nonprofit group MergerWatch. Often times, mergers take place at hospitals. As a result, the name of the hospital might not change but its philosophy does. Every Catholic hospital is bound by the ethical directives of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which forbid abortion and sterilization (unless they are lifesaving), in vitro fertilization, surrogate motherhood, some prenatal genetic testing, all artificial forms of birth control and the use of condoms for HIV prevention. (“Is Your Doctor Playing Judge?” Self, June 2007)

At just 14 weeks pregnant, Kathleen Hutchins had her water break. Because there wasn’t enough amniotic fluid left and it was too early for the fetus to survive, the pregnancy was hopeless. Hutchins would miscarry in a matter of weeks but in the meanwhile, she stood at risk for serious infection, which could lead to infertility or death. Hutchins chose to go to local Elliot Hospital but Elliot had recently merged with nearby Catholic Medical Center – and as a result, the hospital forbade abortions. “I was told I could not admit her unless there was a risk to her life,” Dr. Goldner remembers. “They said, ‘Why don’t you wait until she has an infection, or she gets a fever?’ They were asking me to do something other than the standard of care. They wanted me to put her health in jeopardy.” (Self, June 2007)

South Dakota Governor Michael Rounds, signed into law the nation’s most sweeping state abortion ban in March 2006. The law makes it a felony to perform any abortion except in a case of a pregnant woman’s life being in jeopardy. (“South Dakota Bans Abortion, Setting Up A Battle”, The New York Times, 3/7/2006) But who decides when a woman’s life is in jeopardy? For Kathleen Hutchins, it was the local hospital. Isn’t it her body? Shouldn’t she ultimately make that decision? Not when doctors and hospitals are given the right to refuse care. They are making your decisions.

Since 2005, 27 states introduced bills to widen refusal clauses. Four states are considering granting carte blanche refusal rights – much like the law adopted by Mississippi in 2004, which allows any health care provider to refuse practically anything on moral grounds. (Self, June 2007) “It’s written so broadly, there’s virtually no protection for patients,” says Adam Sonfield, senior public policy associate for the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive-health research group.

The relationship between patient and his/her doctor should be ‘sacrosanct’, and the moral condemnation of a doctor’s faith on a patient has caused patients to retreat from seeing and vocalizing their health in fear of being judged. As upsetting and discouraging as these changes might be, we must always be in control of our own body and health.

In 2002, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, a hereditary autoimmune disease. After years of arguing with doctor’s that I knew something was not right, it was a gastroenterologist that finally looked into it. Blood tests confirmed my assumptions and he referred me to an endocrinologist for further medical attention.

After being under the endocrinologist’s care for a year and taking the prescribed Levoxyl, I still did not feel any better. Being concerned about my health care, I read articles and studies on various medications and treatments. When I confronted my doctor, he responded “You shouldn’t read so much!” Needless to say, that was my last visit with him. I found a new endocrinologist who listened to my concerns and wound up changing the brand of medication. Although the main difference is just the fillers in the medication, sometimes it is even something that small that can make a difference. Luckily I had enough gumption to not accept substandard care but many people do not.

Doctor’s seem to forget that EVERYONE is different. We can all have a different reaction to the same treatment and as a doctor, you should always look to finding what is best for your patient.

Beyond Repair

Beyond repair...two words you dread hearing from your mechanic. You take it in for an oil change and lo-and-behold; the engine is about to fall out. Everything seemed fine…and yet sometimes the damage was done a long time ago and just grew beyond control. Other times, it was a specific incident that led to its place in the junkyard.

But this rant is not going to be about car maintenance rather it is about personal maintenance. You hear it all the time…throughout life you will have your “ups-and-downs”, “good times and bad”. You might have a “bad time” now, but if you keep trying your best, you will move past it and lead into a “good time”. Like most normal human beings, you and I understand this concept. A leak in your roof, your car breaking down or even losing a big client might upset you…you might have a few drinks, smokes, go for a long run…whatever mechanism you have for dealing with negative situations, you allow yourself to move past it. Whether it is a multitude of smaller aspects that fester, a larger incident that breaks them, or being a lemon from the beginning, some people are beyond repair.

A 101-year old woman using a walker was on her way to church, when a man, caught on tape, hit her in the face and then took her purse. He then proceeded to rifle through her pockets, stunned, the victim tried to keep her balance from the hits to the head. The mugger had a clear exit and no threat around him. Purse in hand, this vicious monster then knocked the victim to the floor. Maybe he thought the walker was an act and she would try to run after him. At this point, he allegedly hoped on a pink bike and shortly thereafter, mugged an 84-year old woman who was also using a walker.

I cannot fathom any valid argument or excuse for this individual’s behavior. Maybe his grandmother abused him with her walker, and seeing those steal rods sent years of torture surging through his veins? Maybe an old lady ran over his prized blue bike, now reducing him to the pink one? No matter what trials and tribulations you might have personally gone through, to commit an act such as this, you must not have a soul or any cylinders working for that matter, and are therefore, beyond repair.

Of Taunts and Torture

It is not often a story in the news makes me chuckle. But just recently I came across a New York Times headline: Iraq To Review Hussein's Execution. Hmm...ok. I read on: "Iraq’s Shiite-led government said Tuesday that it had ordered an investigation into the abusive behavior at the execution of Saddam Hussein, who was subject to a battery of taunts by official Shiite witnesses and guards as he awaited his hanging." (NYT, 1/3/07) Insert giggle here.

It goes on to say, "In an unofficial cell phone video recording that was broadcast around the world and posted on countless Web sites, Mr. Hussein is shown standing on the gallows platform with the noose around his neck at dawn on Saturday, facing a barrage of mockery and derision from unseen tormentors below the gallows." I love the word "tormentors" here because that is certainly one of many horrible nouns to which Mr. Hussein holds.

I couldn't believe what I just read. Are people serious? Have they not read any news on Iraq for the past quarter century? Let’s recap:

Saddam Hussein seized power in 1979. The list of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Saddam Hussein and his regime is a long one. It includes:

• The use of poison gas and other war crimes against Iran and the Iranian people during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. Iraq summarily executed thousands of Iranian prisoners of war as a matter of policy.

• The "Anfal" campaign in the late 1980's against the Iraqi Kurds, including the use of poison gas on cities. In one of the worst single mass killings in recent history, Iraq dropped chemical weapons on the Kurdish town of Halabja in 1988, in which as many as 5,000 people -- mostly civilians -- were killed. Another 10,000 were injured. The attack is part of the government's campaign to suppress rebellious Kurds across northern Iraq. The campaign leaves 180,000 Kurds missing and presumed dead.

• Crimes against humanity and war crimes arising out of Iraq's 1990-91 invasion and occupation of Kuwait.

• Crimes against humanity and possibly genocide against Iraqi Kurds in northern Iraq. This includes the destruction of over 3,000 villages. The Iraqi government's campaign of forced deportations of Kurdish and Turkomen families to southern Iraq has created approximately 900,000 internally displaced citizens throughout the country.

• Crimes against humanity and possibly genocide against Marsh Arabs and Shi'a Arabs in southern Iraq. Entire populations of villages have been forcibly expelled. Government forces have burned their houses and fields, demolished houses with bulldozers, and undertaken a deliberate campaign to drain and poison the marshes. Thousands of civilians have been summarily executed.

• Possible crimes against humanity for killings, ostensibly against political opponents, within Iraq.

Even at Hussein's trial, more atrocities were demonstrated. Ahmed Hassan Mohammed detailed the killing of 148 people in the village of Dujail, north of Baghdad, in 1982. The Iraqi forces' torture equipment included a mincing machine sometimes fed with living human bodies, he said. But heck, he could be making it all up! Maybe he watched The Texas Chainsaw Massacre one too many times.

And with that thought, Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases on the grounds that it is a violation of the right to life and the ultimate form of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. "Saddam Hussein and his aides should certainly have been held to account for the horrific human rights crimes committed by his government but this should have been through a fair trial process and without recourse to the death penalty. Reports that Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti had his head severed during the hanging only emphasis the brutality of this already cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment," said Malcolm Smart, Director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Programme. Nothing wrong with a cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment for cruel, inhuman and degrading men.

Even 'our fearless leader' Bush chimed in on the execution: "It basically says to people, "Look, you conducted a trial and gave Saddam justice that he didn’t give to others." But then when it came to execute him, it looked like it was kind of a revenge killing." No, Mr. Bush, a proper ‘revenge killing’ would be if we could kill him 20,000 times...for starters.

If you still share a similar viewpoint to that of Amnesty International, then let me leave with a little bedtime story…

Once upon a time in 1988, a 12 year-old boy named Taimour was taken prisoner by the big back Iraqi forces that burned down his village of more than 4500 villagers. Separated from his family, he was thrown in jail with other children. Many of who died because they were hungry. After surviving there for 30 days, he was whisked away on a bus with no windows, struggling to breath the entire ride to the majestic border of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. After they arrived, they were allowed to have some of the 'magic' water that turned his body numb. Surrounded with 30 other busloads of people, the Iraqi forces had them climb down in over a hundred holes dug specially for them.

Waiting there till it got dark out, the Iraqi forces then starting shooting at the people. All men, women and children. Goodness, was little Taimour frightened. There was one woman Taimour noticed that was pregnant and about to give birth. They threw into the hole too and shot her so many times her stomach got ripped and the baby fell out. Taimour was then shot multiple times in the back and shoulder but survived and played dead until the soldiers eventually left. And then he woke up! What a horrible nightmare.

Kids certainly have a vivid imagination, wouldn’t you say?!

Note: I would gladly 'pull the trigger', 'secure the noose', 'flip the switch', 'inject the needle'...to kill Saddam Hussein…one less psychopathic scumbag to worry about!

Sources:
-Bush Widens Iraq Criticism Over Handling of Executions
-Saddam Hussein's Iraq

Bah Humbug!

The holiday season is about giving thanks for the gifts that life has given us. But if you are like most people, that optimistic outlook has disintegrated like a mistletoe on fire. Countless hours huddled up in department stores or worse yet, camping out three days in front of Best Buy for the new PlayStation. And we really wonder why the rest of the world thinks we are materialistic, selfish morons?

It all starts with kids. I was in their position not TOO long ago. Christmas was not about giving but about receiving! A list for Santa 5 pages long...and worse yet, disappointed when I didn’t get everything on the list. I have two amazing parents but looking back, they probably should have taken me to homeless shelters and soup kitchens to see kids my age, and what they would not be getting for the holidays. Not to make me feel bad but to learn to give back and certainly, be more humble. How many different versions of Barbie’s do you really need? It is an essential lesson and one I learned later in life. I understand now how hard my parents struggled to give me everything they could but I didn’t see that back then. I only saw what they couldn’t give me rather than what they could.

Fast forward to 2006. A wiser Geiss emerges. Someone who sees the world with open eyes and has made a concerted effort to give back and help others. But today I sit at my desk with a ‘Toys for Tots’ box stowed by my legs and out of site. A friend had approached me about helping out and collected donations for the United States Marine Corps Program. The Not-for-Profit Charity that distributes donated toys to needy children in the community in which the campaign is conducted. The primary goal is to “deliver a message of hope to needy youngsters that will motivate them to grow into responsible, productive, patriotic citizens and community leaders.” WOW! Sounds good to me. Unfortunately, the flyers we put up saying this exact same thing did not warrant a positive reaction from some.

When did “giving” actually start to offend people?

I am sure if the banners were about giving away a cruise or that coveted PlayStation 3, I could have kept them displayed.

Happy Holidays!