We're Number 1...wait, number 28???

According to a Save the Children study, the USA came in 28th (four places behind indebted, bankrupted Greece) in terms of "Best Countries to be a Mother." Check out the wire piece HERE.

Why do we fair so poorly? Well, we have the highest maternal mortality rate in the developed world (thanks Pro-Life, Tea-Bagger reactionaries--opposing universal healthcare really is working out for the baaabeeez) and we have the least generous, non-paid maternity leave in the developed world (actually, our policy indicating 6 wks of non-paid leave is worse than many "second world" countries).

If you're not embarrassed by this, you aren't paying attention. Even if you never anticipate having biological or adopted children, it is a social good for those who do to have a reasonable chance at doing so in optimal conditions. Of course, I blame the Patriachy. We need men and woman advocating for universal healthcare (actual universal healthcare) and family leave policies that support families, rather than reinforcing the view that workers are commodities. Check out Mom's Rising for more information about how you can help out with these efforts.

WellPoint: Systematically Canceling Women's Health Insurance Policies After Breast Cancer Diagnosis

So, in yet another reminder about how for-profit health insurance is out for the bottom line and not clients' health. WellPoint, a major insurance company, systematically canceled women's health insurance policies after cancer diagnosis and looked for pretexts (like, finding a misspelled word in a Doctor's notes...seriously, they used THAT as an excuse) after the fact. This was automatic and generated by a computer program in their system.

Of course, its worth pointing out that being able to drop patients is still allowed under healthcare reform, though allegedly restricted, but that's crap as we know how excellent insurance companies are at getting out from under their obligations and how weak individual patients are. The fight for universal healthcare is far from over, but the recent legislation is a beginning.

See these women's stories HERE.