There is one part of the Health Care Bill that has liberal women’s groups upset: it’s stance on elective cosmetic surgery, which affects women more than men.  It is not covered in the health bill, and there is a proposed 5% surtax on the procedures. This tax would be levied on liposuction, cosmetic implants, Botox injections, teeth whitening, and tattoo removal. All of these are surgeries that are performed on women considerably more than men. The only thing on the list that affects men more than women is the tax on Rogaine, the hair growth product, used primarily by men. Many women consider this sexist.

Originally known as the “Botax,” the tax would generate about $1 billion a year, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation. But opponents point out that the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons has reported that one-third of the women who have plastic surgery make less than $30,000 per year. Only 13% make over $90,000 and this fact causes many to see the tax as oppressive to poor women.

Whether the women’s groups and other liberals can get this removed from the bill or not, it shows a glaring example of the hypocracy of the left when it comes to the health care of the human fetus. Doctors who perform abortions, as well as liberals everywhere, are pleading with Congress to include the procedure under the public option. But wait…isn’t abortion an elective surgery? Why is it that other elective surgeries are not only not covered, but they’re taxed! And for those who insist that this would not be elective cosmetic surgery, consider what the bill declares is covered under the tax. According to a BusinessWeek article from November 19th, “The tax in the Senate bill would apply only to surgical procedures that qualify as ‘not necessary to ameliorate a deformity arising from, or directly related to, a congenital abnormality, a personal injury resulting from an accident or trauma, or disfiguring disease.'” Pregnancy is not a deformity, an injury, or a disfiguring disease. So why isn’t abortion being seen as elective surgery, banned from coverage, and taxed?

Instead, we have this debate as to whether it should be included in the public option or not. Because I recognize that abortion is legal,  I have no problem with people buying their own private insurance policy that pays for abortion. I also have no problem with covering abortion for those women whose life is endangered by continuing the pregnancy. Thgis is a medica emergency for the mother. I do not think that people who view abortion as murder should be forced to have their tax money used to pay for it. Again, abortion is a legal medical procedure, just like liposuction.  Hmm…that reminds me of something.  Pro-abortion folks will usually tell you that the fetus is nothing more than tissue…a worthless irritation that has attatched itself to a woman’s body.  Just like the fat that is sucked out in liposuction, right? Right?

Ban abortion from government coverage and tax it!