Kansas House Bill 2453

The Kansas House of Representatives voted to legalize hate and hate fueled discrimination on February 12. They, mostly republicans, voted to pass a bill that was written to enable any business, church, or government agency to deny service to any gay person. Under the thin veil of "not officiating a same sex wedding", Kansas congressmen decided to send legislation to the Senate which would, if signed into law, allow hospitals the right to refuse to treat anyone they decide to call "gay" and police to ignore, rather than protect, anyone they deem "gay". Schools will have leeway, under this law, to torment and expel students who do not conform properly to the Kansas hate-filled rubber-stamped model of open-legged Christianity. What's next, "white's only" water fountains and rest rooms? Here's what Sharon Schwartz, representing the part of Northeast Kansas that includes Marshall County contributed, along with her vote of "Yea" on HB 2453:

MR. SPEAKER: One of the founding principles of our country, inscribed in the First
Amendment, is the right of the people to be led by their conscience and follow their
own deeply held religious convictions without fear of penalty or reprisal. Because of that,
I vote YES on HB 2453.--

CONNIE O'BRIEN, TRAVIS COUTURE-LOVELADY, WILLIE DOVE,

RONALD W. RYCKMAN, SR., BRETT HILDABRAND, JERRY LUNN, JOE EDWARDS, CRAIG
MCPHERSON, RANDY GARBER, RICHARD CARLSON, LESLIE OSTERMAN, WILL CARPENTER, KEVIN
JONES, ALLAN ROTHLISBERG, JOE SEIWERT, SHARON SCHWARTZ, KEN CORBET, RON HIGHLAND,
AMANDA GROSSERODE

Just last week, I wrote a post on this site about a New York man who murdered two women, claiming that they were Witches. He was "led by his conscience and following his own deeply held convictions" at the time he committed the murders. Is this what Sharon Schwartz wants in Northeast Kansas? It really doesn't matter what she wants, inasmuch as I am concerned. Because of her vote in favor of discrimination, violence, and hate, I will never vote for her again.

Medical Information And Privacy

Have you ever wondered exactly what constitutes a beach in medical information covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or "HIPAA"? Or, have you ever felt certain that your rights to privacy concerning your medical information had been violated, but not known how to file a complaint, or with whom to file a complaint? As it happens, if your privacy has accidently or deliberately been breached in some way...say....the emergency department at your local hospital accidently sent your bill to another person, business, or government agency, instead of to you; and your injury, hospital visit, and insurance information are now common knowledge among people of whom you have never seen or heard, there is information provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services about exactly what is lawful and what is not lawful concerning the sharing of medical information. In a case such as the one above, the hospital would have sixty days to notify you that the breach had occurred, and would also be required to notify DHHS of the breach. DHHS even offers the convenience of an online link for the filing of a complaint and reminds everyone of the fact that it is against the law for any healthcare provider to retaliate in any way against a person who has filed a complaint.