Rochester Turning - Sen. Coburn blocks Slaughter’s GINA Bill

Rochester Turning – Sen. Coburn blocks Slaughter’s GINA Bill

by bythepeople on August 24, 2007 @ 2:26 pm

Wow, my dander’s so up over this that you’d need the Hubble Space Telescope to see it.

I thought about titling this article “Why Does Sen. Coburn (R-OK) Hate Kids With Disabilities?” Because, effectively, that’s what’s going on here. Louise Slaughter has been championing the GINA (Genetic Non-Discrimination Act) bill for about 14 years now. It basically says this: you can’t do things like deny insurance coverage based on someone’s genetic profile. This will not only protect those who ALREADY have the misfortune of being born with a genetic problem, but, as this Buffalo News article points out:

Supporters of Slaughter’s bill said the fear of such discrimination stands in the way of genetic research that could lead to miraculous health care breakthroughs.

It’s a “clean bill” with no earmarks and what-not, it’s got broad bi-partisan support (it passed the House, 420-3!) and Bush was even going to sign it. A bill doesn’t get to be more no-brainer than that unless it’s commending Boy Scouts for saving fuzzy puppies.

And as a father of a beautiful, amazing boy with Cerebral Palsy, who could potentially “get a life” in a very real sense from breakthroughs in genetic research, I am thoroughly disgusted at Senator Coburn standing alone, in the way of that progress.

The Buff News also has a good editorial on the subject: Bill block unwarranted.