Republicans have taken the idea of religious freedom and
turned it on its head.
Earlier this year (2012), there was a significant political
skirmish revolving around the issues of contraception and religious
freedom. The skirmish sharply delineated
the parties’ positions on social issues and justification for those
positions. The event provides a clear
blueprint for what to expect from each party in future debates about
reproductive rights and religion.
Contraceptive coverage is a standard health insurance
benefit. It is a matter of personal
choice, but contraceptives are a medical need for those who practice
contraception. And health insurance is
the usual way that consumers obtain pharmaceuticals conveniently and at fair
prices.
The center of the political debate is the question of
whether employers must provide free contraceptives as an insurance benefit to
female employees. The president’s
health care reform law requires all employers to provide this
benefit. The objective of the rule is to
remove cost as a barrier to effective birth control. Free access to birth control allows women to decide whether and when to
have children. Effective family planning also provides benefits to society at large, including better child care, slower
population growth, and lower medical expense. At the time of the rule change, a majority of states already had similar
rules in place.
Republicans in Congress, conservatives, and religious leaders
opposed the new rule on the grounds that the rule infringed upon religious
freedom. Conservative Christian churches,
in particular the Catholic Church oppose birth control, and therefore oppose
providing free contraceptives to their employees. The new law requires corporations owned
by churches to provide contraceptives through health insurance, although churches themselves (as opposed to their subsidiary corporations) are exempt from the rule.
In the early spring, Republicans in Congress tried to block implementation
of the new rule, but failed by a narrow margin.
Over fifty Catholic institutions
and other conservative religious groups have filed lawsuits in a dozen
different Federal courts to block implementation of the ruling. Some of these lawsuits have been dismissed,
but I believe the issue will eventually rise to the Supreme Court.
Churches own and operate universities, hospitals, and
charities. They participate in open
labor markets to hire employees. By
necessity, and as required by equal opportunity law, corporations owned by
churches must hire people of all faiths.
When churches refuse to provide contraceptive coverage to
employees, the church is using its position as employer to unfairly impose
its religious tenets on employees.
Doctors, nurses, radiologists and janitors working in these hospitals
may be Hindu, Muslim, Protestant, Jewish or atheist.
There is no religious basis for their work. When a Catholic-owned hospital refuses to
provide contraceptive coverage, it is imposing its religious beliefs on
employees of other faiths.
In attempting to block this rule, Republicans are not
promoting religious freedom; instead, they are denying religious freedom. The freedom of religion guaranteed under the
First Amendment to the Constitution does not belong to corporations, but rather
to individuals. Individuals have the right to decide which religious precepts to follow; and this decision should not be dictated by the employer. The phrase “Religious Freedom” is absolutely Orwellian in this situation. Allowing employers to deny contraception to employees would
deny individuals the freedom to follow the religious precepts of their choice.
Social issues will be a major factor in the upcoming
Presidential and Congressional elections.
The skirmish over this issue provides a clear view of the positions of
the parties with regard to individual’s freedom of religion, and reproductive
rights and choices. A Republican victory would instill conservative
Christian religious values in many aspects of American life, in direct
contradiction to the First Amendment ban on the establishment of a State
religion. And if there is a Republican victory, we
can be sure that administrative rules, congressional laws, and court
appointments will generally deny reproductive rights and choices to women.
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