Here's my long thoughtful post on the Health and Human Services mandate that all institutions that provide health care for their employees, including Catholic employers, have to provide birth control, including known abortifacients.
That is a violation of the First Amendment, which prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances.
And as I say to Maria 1000 times a day, that's it. Period. The end.
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I can't see it this way. It sounds to me like the requirement is that these medications be covered if employees want to fill them, but that's all. So anyone who doesn't want to get those medications has the full freedom not to---but the coverage is there for anyone who doesn't agree with those beliefs, as many religious people don't. Each individual person still gets to live exactly as they want to.
ReplyDeleteSo it sounds to me like it's the opposite that would be the violation. In one case, everyone has the freedom to practice their own beliefs. In the other case, people are being denied a benefit based on religious presumptions that may not apply to them (considering that many people disagree on religious restrictions).
It doesn't sound to me like anyone is being prevented from peacefully assembling or telling everyone what they think about things.
I agree with you, that individual people would get to live exactly as they want to. I don't think the Church's rights are being considered. It has been a long standing Tradition in the Catholic Church to provide health care through hospitals and hospices, and to provide higher education, and to be opposed to birth control, particularly abortifacients. The Church doesn't seem to have the freedom to operate as a church, which includes operating hospitals and institutes of higher education without their rights being violated.
ReplyDeleteI know that lots of people hate what has gone on within the Roman Catholic Church and who the hell wouldn't, but they still deserve their rights, in my opinion. That's what I can't get past and that's why I say period, the end, because if their rights as a church aren't guaranteed, who cares about the rest? How do we get to that point?
The Church isn't saying, you work for us so you can't use birth control. I mean, trust me, I am a Catholic and they don't even tell their OWN that they can't use birth control, which I think they should. But anyways, it's none of their business whether or not their employees use birth control, I agree. But no one is saying you have to let them use birth control, they are saying you have to PAY for it and help them get it, and I can't see how the church can be against it and providing it at the same time.
I'm sorry I'm just writing this comment, I forgot to check it!