First she notes a story suggesting looking at squeezing a man's hand or looking at his picture is effective pain relief for women and reads the handwriting on the wall: no more epidurals, Ladies!
Then she notes the "don't bother scanning for breast cancer" thing, which we're skipping because we've noted it already.
But hard on its heels came this:
those silly Pap tests that had us thinking we needed a pelvic exam every year?The official word has come that you don't need that testing so early or so often:And if it happens to be your wife or daughter who dies in all of this, don't worry:Young women are especially prone to develop abnormalities in the cervix that appear to be precancerous, but that will go away if left alone. But when Pap tests find the growths, doctors often remove them, with procedures that can injure the cervix and lead to problems later when a woman becomes pregnant, including premature birth and an increased risk of needing a Caesarean.And talk about expensive! Premature births and Caesarean sections? Wouldn't it be so much nicer for everyone if women would man up and give the old vagina a go? And if the baby dies? Think of how many trips to the pediatrician will be avoided. Why spend so much on preemies anyway? Surely, the new guidelines on extra-tiny humans will yield nice savings.
the experts are here to tell you that you will feel quite a bit better — surprisingly so — when you look at an old photograph of your lost child.Comes the devastating conclusion:
Come on, be honest. Don't you want the federal government to have a complete overview of health care? The potential rationality is stunning. And one thing in this emerging rationality is clear: Although women tend to love the notion of government control more than men do, it is women who will be told they'll have to cut back. On treatments. And years. You know we've been taking more than our share.
But who the hell cares? It's only women.
