Government Chaos

The new administration has ushered in a period of chaos within the federal government thanks to unclear and not well-thought out executive orders. One rescinded a an executive order issued by President Biden that capped the cost of prescription medication. Fortunately, some caps were written into the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, such as a $35 co-pay cap on insulin.

In American politics, voters are caught in an our side vs. their side mentality. We shouldn't base our policy positions on those of the politicians we support. It should be the other way around.  It's not that Trump or Biden are always right. It's up to us to learn the issues and hold politicians accountable. Unless you work for a pharmaceutical company that profits from high prescription medication prices, we're all in favor on reasonable prices for our medication.

Likewise, this administration has put a freeze on communication between the CDC and NIH and the public. Not only that, but many of their basic functions have been frozen. We all can support funding research that helps cure or manage diseases. The private sector often isn't willing to face the risks of investing in these type of grants that are designed to help the public. Workers now can't do their jobs that directly contribute to benefitting Americans' health. With the freeze, the public can't get the information these agencies collect.

Information is never bad unless you have an inflexible ideology and that information disproves your beliefs.

There's nothing wrong with having ideological differences, but we all want lower prices and cures for cancer to be researched. This is why it's so important to understand the issues and hold politicians accountable when they remove price caps for prescription medicine or halt the function of key agencies that contribute so much to the health of society.

Transgenderism and Fear

Transgenderism was a major issue this past presidential campaign with President Trump running a national ad on the subject. In reality, unless you're a transgender person, this is a minor issue that doesn't affect virtually all Americans.

Estimates by the Williams Institute place the percentage of transgender people at 0.6%, which is about a half a percent or 1 in every 200 people or so. I don't know about you, but I don't see anywhere near 200 people a week.

Conservatives have been worried about transgender women playing women's sports. It's good that they're concerned about women's sports, but this a non-issue. NCAA President Charlie Baker, a former Republican governor of Massachusetts, estimated that there are fewer than ten transgender athletes in the NCAA. In 2022, Politico reported that there were only four transgender athletes competing in high school sports out of 85,000. Only one of the four competed in women's sports.

Regardless of which side you're on,  the question of transgender athletes is really only an issue for the tiniest fraction of Americans. The issue really only comes down to: is it fair one way or another? There are much bigger issues that the vast majority of Americans need to focus on.

Conservatives are also worried about transgender women going into women's bathrooms.  They see it as a safety issue. Of course, bad people don't need permission to do bad things. But let's look at the issue of violence and transgender people. While transgender people are not more likely to commit crimes, they are four times more like to be victims, according to the Williams Institute. According to Congress, the murder rate of transgender people has doubled in the last four years. So it's far more likely that the transgender woman in the bathroom will be a victim of a crime than will commit one.

While I wish we all had more compassion for one another, the reality is, for over 99% of Americans, the transgender issue doesn't impact them. It's a fear-mongering diversion tactic to avert our attention when the cap on our prescription medicine costs are lifted and our access to affordable disease therapy is removed.

The Fraught Issue of Abortion

Fundamentally, we need to understand that Americans of all political persuasions want what's best for America. We may not agree what that means or how to get there, but we want America to succeed.

On the issue of abortion, we all want the same thing: fewer abortions and lower infant mortality. We disagree on how to get there, whether it's a national ban, the decision of the states, or the individual's choice.

If we understand that we all want fewer abortions, we can then look at the data and see what works and what doesn't. Some of you might be yelling at your screen, "I don't want fewer abortions, I want no abortions!" Please understand that zero abortions equals fewer abortions, so we're all on the same page here.

In the 18 months after the Dobbs Supreme Court case that erased Roe v. Wade and sent the issue of abortion to the states, infant mortality has gone up 7% as compared to the previous 18 month period according to a paper published by the AMA. This doesn't feel right, but if we think about it logically, it makes sense. Most of the 7% of babies who died had congenital abnormalities or birth defects.

Confusingly, the number of abortions has risen 11% from 2020 (the last time there was comprehension statistics before the Dobbs decision) and 2023, according to the the Guttmacher Institute. It's at its highest since 2011. Dobbs may or may not be a reason for the increase, but importantly, the ruling, which has resulted in reduced access to abortion, hasn't had the desired effect on reducing the amount of abortions.

Sadly, the maternal mortality rate is 7% higher in states that have restricted abortion access, according to a Tulane University study. The more restrictive the policy, the chances the mother dies increases dramatically.

So the current policy of states determining abortion rights has caused a higher death rate for babies and mothers and resulted in more abortions. We certainly don't want the government to police our morals, so let's take a look at better ways to get what we all want: fewer abortions,

We need to address the root causes for why abortions take place. Increased access to contraception and better sex education are two practical and obvious ways. More fundamental is to address the pervasive issue of poverty. An increased standard of living and improved safety net will make abortions less necessary. Reducing poverty is a giant issue, but it's one that will have the consequence of reducing abortion, something our post-Dobbs reality has failed to do.