In defense of the sanctimonious women's studies set || First feminist blog on the internet

Month: May 2008

The (Lack of) Medical Treatment Received by ICE Detainees

Last week, Miss Sarajevo left a comment with a link to this series of articles in The Washington Post, and I’m just finally getting around to writing about it. The series, “Careless Detention,” is about the terrifying, unethical and downright inhumane medical treatment of immigrants imprisoned by ICE, generally while fighting or awaiting deportation for infractions that are usually non-violent and in fact so mild as to verge on the ridiculous. Since 9/11, Bush and his buddies have really stepped up anti-immigrant measures (which were already largely poor and in place), broadened definitions of who could be deported, increased raids and decided that those seeking asylum must do so while behind bars. Our government is imprisoning both documented and undocumented men and women (and though not mentioned in this series, also children), often without due process, and then, quite simply, killing them with medical neglect, or otherwise abusing/torturing them with inappropriate or an outright lack of medical treatment.

If you think that the medical treatment of some immigrants who are not in trouble with ICE is appalling (and it is), be prepared to learn a new definition of the word.

Excerpts from the articles after the jump.

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Friday Random Ten – the Juris Doctor edition

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I took off the stupid hat and the hood. More cheesing for the camera here.

Yeah, I finally graduated from law school. Yeehaw. Now it’s bedtime since I have Bar class tomorrow,* and then hanging out with Moms all day.** But since it is certainly Friday somewhere, here is an FRT:

1. Tom Waits – Heartattack and Vine
2. The Bad Plus – Layin’ A Strip For The Higher-Self State Line
3. Cat Stevens – Father and Son
4. Les Savy Fav – Knowing How the World Works
5. The Kinks – Do You Remember Walter
6. Bonny Billy – A Dream Of The Sea (The Renderers)
7. Guided by Voices – The Best Of Jill Hives
8. Benjy Ferree – The Desert
9. The Mountain Goats – Palmcorder Yajna
10. Voxtrot – Ghost

*It started the day after graduation. Can you believe that?
**She already cleaned my entire apartment, and tomorrow she is bleaching my bathroom and making me dinner(!). Moms are the best.

Ellen takes on John McCain on marriage equality

I have mentioned that I love Ellen, right?

Seriously, good on her. There are big-time reporters who wouldn’t be this direct and challenging.

And I love how uncomfortable he gets when pushed on the fact that he attempted to actively deny the woman sitting next to him the right to marry the person she loves. Politicians should be directly confronted with the fact that this isn’t just a political issue that you can use to score votes; it’s an issue that affects people. And if you’re a bigot in a position of power, at some point you’re going to have to sit next to one of the people you harmed. I’m glad John McCain had to do that in front of a whole lot of those “average Americans” whose votes he’d like to get. I’m glad Ellen was courageous enough to challenge him and to personalize it.

Update: Iscoa Will Remain in U.S.

Good news, folks: Sonia del Cid Iscoa will not be forcibly (or apparently otherwise) deported to Honduras. Even better, her condition has improved markedly and at an exceptional rate. (Thanks to Lindsay for the update.)

St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center on Tuesday reached agreement with lawyers representing Sonia del Cid Iscoa, ending an international legal drama over whether a legal immigrant could be forcibly transported from the country by a medical facility.

Iscoa, 34, did not have sufficient medical insurance to cover long-term care, St. Joseph’s could not offer it, and there were no apparent programs that could take her.

The hospital planned to fly her to a government hospital in Tegucigalpa, Honduras; Iscoa’s family went to Maricopa County Superior Court to get a temporary restraining order, and all parties were scheduled to appear before a judge on Friday.

But Iscoa’s condition has improved so markedly in the past several days that the discussion has changed.

“She has begun to take semisolid food. She is on room air, as opposed to supplemental oxygen. And she’s not had dialysis for a week, which is a huge improvement,” said attorney John Curtain. “Because of this the hospital at present is not contemplating sending her to Honduras.”

Of course, I find it odd that St. Joseph’s is no longer contemplating forced deportation now that Iscoa is seemingly doing well without dialysis, but was more than willing to deport her to a hospital that had no dialysis equipment back when she did need it. There’s some ethics for ya. One almost has to wonder if the decision came out of newfound financial ability, a moral revelation, or just some really shitty publicity that needed to be plugged up.

Though not entirely clear from the article, it does seem like Iscoa’s family is still going to need money to pay off medical bills, and since she’s still in recovery, her struggle is far from over.

The fact that Iscoa’s immediate crisis has been resolved is also no reason to stop discussing the issue and go back to our happy lives like it didn’t happen. Because this isn’t and never was just about one woman — it’s also about the approximately 8 immigrant patients that this one hospital forcibly deports each month, and who knows how many others that are deported by other hospitals across the nation.

Breathe a sigh of relief for Iscoa, but don’t stop talking.

2007 Femmostroppo Awards

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The long-awaited 2007 Femmostroppo Awards have been announced!

Head on over to read some really great feminist writing.

The Femmostroppo Awards honor (what this group of judges deems to be) the best 40 feminist or womanist blog posts of the year. Congratulations to everyone who made it in. I’m happy to see several of the posts that I personally nominated, and so many bloggers whose work I regularly read.

I’m also happy/proud to see so many Feministe writers and alumni. Special congrats to Jill, Zuzu, Jack, La Lubu* and Nanette* . . . and thank you to the judges for including me.

Give yourselves a pat on the back, everyone — and then get back to work!

Quote of the Day:

“When we find ourselves believing that killing a man makes us more of a man, but loving a man makes us less of a man, it’s probably time to reexamine our criteria for manhood.”

stolen from Andrew‘s g-chat status message.

Hospital Attempts Deportation of Woman With Inadequate Insurance

An immigrant woman from Honduras who has very recently awakened from a coma is being threatened with what can effectively be called deportation, because she does not have the insurance needed to cover her medical bills. (Don’t read the comments in these articles unless you want to lose your lunch.) But here is the real kicker: while it would be repulsive and incredibly inhumane to deport an uninsured/under-insured person with a serious medical condition because of their undocumented status, despite the lack of adequate facilities for their care in their nations of citizenship, it isn’t even the case here. Sonia del Cid Iscoa has a current visa and in the U.S. legally. (All emphasis in quoted text is mine.)

A gravely ill woman at risk of being removed from the country for lack of adequate insurance coverage awoke from a coma Tuesday.

The hospital has been seeking to return her to her native Honduras; her family took the hospital to court.

[. . .]

Iscoa, 34, has a valid visa and has lived in the United States for more than 17 years. She has no family in Honduras.

But St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center sought to have her sent to Honduras when she went into a coma April 20 after giving birth to a daughter about 8 weeks premature. Iscoa has an amended version of Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System coverage that does not cover long-term care, Curtin said. But her family worried that the move would seriously harm her, or, at the very least, prevent her from ever returning to the United States.

Iscoa’s mother, Joaquina del Cid Plasecea, obtained a temporary restraining order to keep her from being moved. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Carey Hyatt also ordered that the family post a $20,000 bond by Tuesday to cover St. Joseph’s costs of postponing the transfer.

However, Curtin said that the hospital gave the family three more days to come up with the money before a hearing Friday.

If the family can prove that Iscoa would suffer irreparable injury by a move, the bond will be refunded and Iscoa will not be transferred. But if Hyatt determines that Iscoa is not in imminent danger by a move, the family will forfeit the bond.

A stipulation to a court order issued by Hyatt Tuesday evening said that the parties were “actively exploring alternative sources of securing payment for the medical bills of Sonia Iscoa.”

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Shameless Self-Promotion Sunday

Getting this up a little late. Self-promote away!

(For the newbies: In the comments, link to a blog post — or several blog posts — that you’ve written recently, along with a short description of the post(s). Please don’t just link to your whole blog. Have fun!)