From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 26 May 94 11:40:38 -0400 Eastern

ACTION ALERT            PRESS RELEASE            ACTION ALERT  
 
               THE HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FUND                    
 
The nation's largest lesbian, gay and bisexual political group   
 
TO CONTACT THE HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FUND, PLEASE CALL US AT
(202)628-4160, FAX US AT (202) 347-5323 OR WRITE TO US AT PO BOX
1396  WASHINGTON, DC  20013.  WE CANNOT RESPOND TO E-MAIL.  

ACTION ALERT:
 
TELL SENATOR KASSEBAUM TO WITHDRAW HER DISCRIMINATORY AMENDMENT
AND TO SUPPORT LEGAL ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE FOR ALL AMERICANS. 
CALL IMMEDIATELY TO SENATOR KASSEBAUM'S WASHINGTON, DC OFFICE
(202)224-4774 OR HER WICHITA, KA OFFICE (316)263-0416.
 
ALSO, CALL YOUR SENATORS AT (202)224-3121 URGING THEM NOT SUPPORT
THE KASSEBAUM AMENDMENT.
 
                       KASSEBAUM AMENDMENT WOULD 
                    INSTITUTIONALIZE DISCRIMINATION 
                             IN HEALTH CARE

     WASHINGTON, DC  (May 26, 1994)  Senator Nancy Kassebaum
(R-KS) introduced an amendment today to the health care reform
legislation under consideration in the Senate Labor and Human
Resources Committee which would institutionalize discrimination
in health care against lesbian and gay Americans.  Kassebaum's
amendment would remove language outlawing discrimination on the
basis of sexual orientation from the bill.
 
     "At a time when the people of Kansas expect Senator
Kassebaum to work on health care for all Americans, she is caving
into the Radical Right's special agenda to institutionalize
anti-gay discrimination," said Daniel Zingale, Public Policy
Director of the Human Rights Campaign Fund, the nation's largest
lesbian and gay organization.  
 
     "Senator Kassebaum's amendment will give aid and comfort to
the Fred Phelps of the world, which is a surprising
disappointment."  Phelps is the anti-gay Kansas minister who
regularly pickets the funerals of people with AIDS.
 
     Kassebaum's amendment would eliminate protection from
discrimination on the basis of income, language, sexual
orientation, health status and anticipated need for health
services.  "Non-discrimination is an essential component of real
health care reform," Zingale said.  "Senator Kassebaum's
amendment strikes at the core of the effort to provide access to
health care for all Americans." 
 
     A recent study release by the American Association of
Physicians for Human Rights documents widespread discrimination
against lesbian and gay patients, health care providers and
individuals who are perceived to be gay or lesbian.  The study
found that 67% of the responding health care providers reported
knowing of lesbian and gay Americans who have received
substandard care because of their sexual orientation.
 
     Zingale cited a recent poll by the firm of Mellman, Lazarus
and Lake, Inc., which found 67% of the American people favor a
health care bill that specifically prohibits discrimination on
the basis of sexual orientation.  "Senator Kassebaum is wrong if
she thinks that Americans will approve of her effort to
institutionalize discrimination," Zingale noted.   

 
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