The brouhaha over requiring Catholic supported organizations to provide basic women’s health care, namely birth control to the employees is a smoke screen. This has been a requirement for years. If a religious organization has a firm belief in a certain tenant of their religon, then that group should not be required to provide something that goes against that belief for an employee of a different faith. This is un-American.
If a Catholic went to work for a Christian Scientist organization, then that person would be denied access to the medical profession in its entirety. The CS group would not be required to provide any type of traditional health care what so ever as CS do not believe in using traditional Western Medicine, they would not be required to provide the health care insurance needed for the Catholic’s usual health care.
As a lay person, my understanding of our Constitution may be incorrect, however, as I understand it, our constitution gives each individual the right to select and practice their own religious beliefs. It would appear to be un-Constitutional to require an individual to convert or adhere to a different religious belief in order to receive employment. As soon as a religious group hires anyone outside their own belief system, then their right to require their employees to follow their faith guidelines is null and void.
Almost all health insurances pay for medications and/or devices to treat erectile dysfunction, the Catholic Church has no problem with that. When it is just fine to solve that problem without giving women the equally important right to protect themselves from becoming pregnant, the hypocrisy of the group becomes glaringly obvious. When a group of old men can dictate the rights of what women are allowed to become, then all of us lose. If women are not allowed to use contraception, men should not be allowed to treat erectile dysfunction.
If we, as a nation, can allow that type of exemption to our health care system, then we might as well say that people with red hair are not allowed to drive. People under 6 feet high are not allowed to vote. The possible list is endless and ridiculous!
Our nation was formed on liberty and equality, not for some, but for all. When a religious organization opens their employment rolls to people outside their own faith group, they are not allowed to force their own beliefs upon the other people working for them just to facilitate that person’s employment. Nor should it be allowed!
It is now time for all true Americans to take a stand for religious freedom and explain just what that freedom actually means. Your freedoms stop at the end of my nose. Do not try to shove yours down my throat for when someone else sticks something down my throat, that person stands a great chance of being covered with my vomit!
How are reproductive rights acceptable for men, who can’t bare children, but not for women who are the bearer of children. To the best of my knowledge, we were blessed with immaculate conception only once to produce the Lord Jesus Christ. When a man can conceive, nurture in his womb and carry to delivery a full term child, then it is time for all to listen to his ideas on reproductive health for others. Until then, until the time he can go through natural childbirth, until he takes his own life in hand to product another life, until then he needs to just hold his opinions about women’s reproductive health care to himself. He has no real idea of which he speaks. I am a male! I was born that way, thank God. I have two children born of my wife. There is absolutely no way that I could even think of trying to influence her decision on birth control unless my opinion were sought by her. God gave her a brain to use. When God created woman from Adam’s rib, He took that part from Adam’s side, not his head or heel. She was made to be an equal partner to work by Adam’s side, not to rule over him from his head and not to be a slave having come from his heel. Why, oh why, must Man constantly try to completely rule the Woman?
Comments
It may be that this is just testing the waters for the probably larger set of medical bills arising from the treatment of all the children molested and raped by those in the employ or under the umbrella of a church.
Contusions, broken bones, repairing vaginal & anal tears & fissures, stds and the years of therapy needed to reduce the impact of abuse by authority figures really adds up.
They'll keep trying different things until they find one they can use to prop open the door.
If they really wanted to help their members and employees - they could find an issue to be on the right side of for a change.
Nope, you are wrong. If you employ anyone for other than specifically religious purposes, you have to obey the employment laws regarding pay, benefits, working conditions and so forth. Catholic hospitals and schools do not serve Catholics exclusively, and they do not employ Catholics exclusively either. As public institutions owned by the Catholic Church, they still have to obey the civil laws. This does nto apply to their priests and members in worship or spiritual retreats. When any religious organization takes public money, it must set up a non-profit corporation to keep the funding for that "ministry" separate from their religious institution. Liberal Protestants and some service oriented Evangelicals have understood and operated according to these standards for a long time. It is the theocrats who want to push this crap, and they violate the religious freedom of the citizens and employees involved.
It is a violation of religious freedom to forbid taxpayer funding of abortions too. We have bent over backwards and frontwards to appease these aholes and it only whets their appetites.