I should probably not be adding to the noise today, but shutting up has never been one of my better qualities.
I posted a minor status on facebook about a recent Supreme Court case, because there are a lot of uninformed people out there. The case: Sebelius vs. Hobby Lobby. All you had to do was listen to the protesters outside the Supreme Court on Tuesday, and you got a very...interesting... take on this case. You see, they are claiming that Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood are standing in the way of women's rights. Their rights to contraception. That these two businesses, by refusing to subsidize certain forms of contraception, are actually forcing women back into the 1960's, or something like that.
“The Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear arguments in a case that pits religious liberty against women’s rights.”
~Adam Liptake, New York Times, March 24, 2014
So, we'll start with this premise. Hobby Lobby would like to be exempt from Plan B and IUDs. Both methods of birth control could cause already fertilized eggs to be aborted. These methods of contraception comprise only 4 of the 20 available options under the Affordable Care Act. Hobby Lobby is more than willing to cover the other 16. Moreover, Hobby Lobby is not saying women cannot take Plan B or use IUDs. They are simply saying that, as a matter of faith, they should not be forced to subsidize them. So when discussing "women's rights", I'm pretty sure no one here is denying women the right to purchase these drugs.
Many of the protesters on Tuesday were holding signs said that contraception is a choice between a woman and her doctor. I have no problem with that. However, in this case, what they really want is the choice to be between the woman and her doctor, and the company to pay for that choice. By demanding coverage be provided, at no cost to the employee, you are inviting your company to participate in your choices. You don't really have a right to scream privacy while actively demanding that someone be "on the hook" for whatever it is you are doing "privately".
How about those signs that said "stay out of my bedroom." Gladly. I have no desire to be in your bedroom and I'm sure the Greens (of Hobby Lobby fame), don't want to be there either. So how about you stop demanding that they pay for your activities there? It's simple. If you truly want people to stay out of your sex life, don't ask them to pay for it.
Back in my 20's, my husband and I lived, literally, paycheck to paycheck. On pennies, sometimes. (Literally, pennies at the bottom of the change cup.) Our insurance did not cover birth control. Somehow I managed to squeeze the money for it. Maybe we didn't have dinner out one night when we really wanted to. We skipped seeing that movie in the theater and watched it when it came out on DVD. But, since I wanted to control my own fertility, I made the sacrifices necessary to do that.
I have a hard time feeling bad for someone typing out statuses on facebook from their $600 iphone, about how they got drunk at a bar the night before. A status full of typos because they just got their nails done. And with the status is a picture of that new cut and color. Today sacrifice means $15 bucks at the local clinic (which is about the cost of getting those nails done and about 1/4 of the cost of a cut and color). And yet, they gathered, like oppressed underdogs, in front of the Supreme Court, and tried to claim someone was violating their rights, their doctor-patient relationship and their privacy.
Better yet, if this was a church, or a charity, or one of those dreaded 501(c4) organizations, we wouldn't be having this conversation. They are exempt, based on their religious beliefs. But if you happen to make a profit, well you're screwed. You don't get to have morals. Corporations that make money are run by individuals, who simply because they run a business, have somehow abdicated their Constitutional Rights. That's what the current Administration, the Liberal News Media, and the left-wing activist base want you to believe.
But wait, these same people, who say corporations are not individuals and thus don't have a claim to the first amendment (since it applies to individuals) will swear that the second amendment is a collective (or corporate) right, not an individual right.
Individuals, regardless of their business ownership, do not cease to be afforded the protections of the Constitution. You don't have to like it, but if you live in this country you do have to deal with it.
This country has, since the beginning of time, been based on the rights of individuals, the freedom of individuals. You are perfectly free to go to your local pharmacy and buy Plan B. You do not have the right to insist that someone else pay for it, even if it goes against everything they believe in. The Administration, Congress and the Senate would have done well to remember that when they cobbled together this atrocious legislation and rammed it down our throats. The poor me crowd would do well to remember it, because if they win, this very decision could very well come back to bite them in the ass.
Comments