A Perspective from A Parent of Chronically Ill Kids

A little perspective. What do people do when their very existence is being threatened? The fight or flight response kicks in-- this election is very important on a National level, certainly. On a personal level it is a battle between a person who will cause the ruin of our personal finances vs the man who will remove those threats (and maybe not in time).  Obamacare DIRECTLY affects my family in a very negative way. Not just the HHS mandate stripping our religious freedom-- but its personal impact on my children's medical care and our financial stability. 

Forcing others to go into debt so that you can get free stuff is immoral. Period. I have two children with Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome and secondary Mitochondrial Disease. Since Obamacare's inception, our premiums, co-pays, out of pocket max and over all medical costs have increased exponentially. We received our benefits election information for 2013 and we have more increases in premiums, co-pays and OOPs. Next year we also face the tax increases by way of the decreased flex spending amount and the increased itemized deduction threshold from 7.5% to 10%. Our family may not make it through next year in a financially stable position.

Obama’s HHS mandate is forcing us to pay for women to receive free birth control, surgical sterilizations and abortion drugs and thus increasing our costs. Insurance companies cannot cover more people AND pay 100% for certain services and NOT pass the bill on to consumers. Even providing the cheap generic birth control to women from Target and WalMart at $9.00 will cost millions. If an insurance company must now give birth control FREE to one million women -- and keep in mind not all women will be getting the cheap stuff-- at the cheap price, the insurance company pays out 9 million dollars. Abortion drugs and sterilizations arr much, much more costly!

Have any of you ever noticed that no liberal has ever answered these questions? I ask repeatedly.... tell me why it is moral to force me into debt so that others can have more free stuff? Tell me why it is right and just to force me to pay higher taxes when we could use that money to pay for our own children's medical bills? Why am I evil because I want to keep more of my own money to take care of my own children? No liberal I have ever asked has been able to answer those questions. Not one. Ever. Never mind asking them why it is okay that they force us to do all of  THAT and violate our consciences in the process.

Why should a woman have a sterilization surgery and not pay ANYTHING while I pay $2,000 per kid to have a bone marrow biopsy? Is that paying their "fair share" as Obama likes to run around saying? How is it that our co-pay for a life saving medication that protects my son's kidneys used to be $150 3 years ago and in 2011, the first year Obamacare took effect it went to $283 and this year (2012) it is now $343? Yet women will get birth control FREE -- Pregnancy is not a disease!  What will the co-pay be next year? An arm, leg and $600? Why should women get a medication that doesn't treat a disease on our dime AND on our consciences? Is that paying their fair share?

This, folks, is not the America I grew up in. Let me tell you a bit about why I am so passionate about this great nation and her freedoms.  Perhaps my life story will inspire you in the final stretch of this election--  when you feel you can’t do one more thing to defeat the HHS mandate during this election cycle—remember this great nation and the freedoms our founding fathers fought for, the freedoms that have enabled me to plan protests and write/speak these words.

At the age of 18, I found myself on a bus headed into Ft. Dix for Army Basic Training. As I embarked on this journey, I knew that mine was a journey that could only happen in the United States of America. You see, I came from an abusive, alcoholic, drug ridden family. My brothers were in and out of jail and my childhood was a living hell.  At the age of 15, my brother, David, committed suicide. He was 20. In my early twenties, my brother, Steve, died of a drug overdose. He was 33. The last time I saw my middle brother, Mike, was at David’s funeral in 1983. He was locked up in the Arizona state pen during Steve’s funeral and has been in and out of the pen a total of three times.

On that bus heading into Ft. Dix, I could see my future and it was bright- because I was in the land of the free and the home of the brave – the land where EVERYONE has the opportunity to succeed. I later went through officer candidate school and was blessed to be a part of the military of the greatest nation on earth.   It wasn’t easy. It was a lot of work to break away from the family into which I was born. With freedom, hard work and opportunity, I was able to graduate from college and build a successful life.  I am here today as a witness to the greatness of our nation and her freedoms.  

We cannot allow future generations to inherit an America with fewer freedoms than we enjoy today. We must fight so that we continue to be the shining city upon a hill – the light of liberty for the world for generations to come. If we allow our government to violate our consciences and religious freedom right now, what is next?  If we allow the HHS mandate to stand along with the individual mandate, our government has the ability to force us to do anything it wishes without regard to our consciences –

This is not the same America that gave m the opportunity to overcome the obstacles of my youth and succeed. Join with me in the fight against Obamacare, its mandates and restricted freedoms— We must fight so that our God-given freedoms are not restricted by an overreaching government.

Together, we can restore America so that future generations will live in a nation where life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are a reality.