I mentioned once before how important birth control has been to not just Western society, but the entire world, over the last half century. But supposedly this is the big new controversy now that Obama wants to make birth control a mandatory part of employer health insurance packages - even if they're run by religious institutions. I say "supposedly" because contraception is about as mainstream a social issue as Democrats have right now, with even majorities of Catholics supporting Obama's mandate in theory.
Let me take a moment to point out that "religious institutions" does not include actual churches. If you work in a literal church and you want birth control pills, you're still SOL. But if you work for a Catholic charity, school. or hospital--especially a school or a hospital--I'm sorry, yes, you have to give people birth control pills.
Regardless of the political implications of the mandate, I hope Obama continues to take a stand on this. A hospital is a hospital, and you cannot pick and choose what medication to give people based on your religious beliefs. I'm sure there are racists who could use the bible to justify their hatred of black people, but if one of them wanted to be a surgeon, he couldn't legally refuse to operate on one. The bible absolutely speaks about women in particular as being inferior, but you can't legally refuse treatment to them, either, and that's what this is - refusing treatment.
And denying contraception to Catholic school girls? Don't even get me started.
(Side Note: for the next four weeks, I am conducting a survey of visitors to this blog. Whether you're a regular reader or this is your first time, I'd love to hear from you - just follow this link. This notice will accompany every post this month, with Saturday, March 3rd being the final day to participate. Thanks for reading!)
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