Gaucher Disease and Why Universal Healthcare is Essential
November 27, 2011By Hrafnkell Haraldsson

My seven-year-old son just spent six very trying days in the hospital. He suffers from a Lysosomal Storage Disorder (LSD), Type III Gaucher Disease. It’s not something he caught; it’s genetic. In simple terms, his body lacks the enzyme it needs to break down the waste material in the blood (glucocerebroside), with the result that it accumulates in the spleen and liver. Eventually, it gets into the bone marrow and from there into the brain stem. The end result is death.

To prevent this from happening, he receives weekly enzyme infusions that run to about $5K per, exclusive of supplies and nursing care. He must receive an infusion every week until the rest of his life or until a cure is found...

~SNIP~

If the Republican vision for America came true, my son would probably die (personal responsibility and all…I mean, he didn’t have sex with somebody else’s wife or with a congressional page…he was just born with a disease he has no control over). The Republican Party has made clear its position on healthcare for Americans – the only people who deserve it are the rich and members of congress – the latter being insurance we pay for but don’t ourselves receive.

There are many children like my son and they are nothing to Republicans. Republicans are interested that every fertilized egg be born but once born they have no interest in keeping the child healthy or alive. This makes the Republican Party the natural enemy of parents like me. Because, and tell me if I'm wrong, it doesn’t seem reasonable to me to tell him that having been born, he no longer possesses the rights the Republicans claim he possessed as a zygote. Why is it a fertilized egg has more rights than my actual living, breathing son, who has a name and a social security number and an attendance record at school, who loves and feels and talks and thinks – and suffers? I want the Republican Party and their circus of candidates to answer this question for me. I don’t think it’s too much to ask.

http://www.politicususa.com/en/gaucher-dis...


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Why can't this child's family just tug on their bootstraps a little harder.
Lazy Libs.