Dear Ms. Duffy,
Do you know what I would fight for?
Women’s health rights and equal access to modern healthcare.
One of the great benefits protected by the Affordable Care Act is women’s access to these services, which positively impact social determinants of health and help progress equality for women and reality-based family planning.
Notre Dame’s recent administrative decision to exclude itself from offering this coverage through Aetna for its employees and students is a disgusting demonstration, and one which results in this alumnus (and others like me) to choose not to ever donate our money, our kind words of support, or any ounce of additional thought or energy to the Notre Dame cause.
Notre Dame, unlike the women whose coverage is impacted by your choices, has the power to choose sane, rational, caring and modern approaches in its organizational decision making, and, in this instance, and in many others like it before, the University chooses to regress.
And while that may be this organization’s choice, it is one that myself and others like me choose not to live with, so you can’t have my money, but you can certainly have my degree back at your choosing — it is neither relevant nor valuable to this member of modern society.
Best regards,
Drew Updike M.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.P., A.B.I.M. certified
Brown University Internal Medicine 2013
Tulane University School of Medicine 2010, School of Public Health 2010
University of Notre Dame B.A. 2005
Nov. 4
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
