Operation Fail

If you can't tell by now from reading this blog, WRC staff members are regular consumers of pop culture. But in our defense, almost all of us are also avid NPR fans."I heard a story on NPR today..." can often be overheard in our office, as can a streaming broadcast of NPR programs during the day.

Yesterday, I overheard a colleague relaying a story she'd heard on NPR right before a meeting about how women don't receive equal or adequate medical care at VA hospitals when they return home from serving in war. Her story kept bouncing around in my head, so I looked up the NPR story to listen online. You can hear the story here. The interview is with a woman who did a Time Magazine article on VA services for women veterans, which is where I found the picture accompanying this post.

This story made me so mad for so many reasons. #1 - What message are we giving women veterans? You're good enough to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan, but not good enough to merit keeping doctors on staff who can see to your medical needs? #2 - Women veterans don't get taken seriously when they have trauma because they don't serve in direct combat? You tell me where anyone (civilians, even) are safe from combat and direct fire in Iraq then. #3 - We will keep VIAGRA in stock, but not birth control pills?

I could go on and on. But listen to the NPR story and read the Time magazine article yourself and I promise you'll be mad enough to spit. I was.