It's taken me awhile to follow up on this. This atrocious decision has been forced out of the headlines, by stories both domestic (child refugees from Central America, the Morons for Impeachment drive) and foreign (civilian planes shot down, Gaza, disruption in Iraq). But just because something isn't driving the current headlines doesn't lessen the damage that it is doing.
Why is this one of the Supreme Court's worse decision ever, ranking up there with Dredd Scott, Bush v. Gore, and Citizen's United? Let me count the ways -
1) It damages our commitment to each other's health care.
So sorry, my conservative friends. Health care is a right. It's our right as an American. It's our right as a human being. And this decision stomps on that right by trying to devalue part of the contract we have made with each other to take care of each other.
Insurance systems work best the more inclusive they are. The greater the pool is, the lower the costs for everyone. This works in any type of insurance. You need low risk people to take your policies as well as high risk.
That means when people try to a la carte their services, restrict it to just the ones they believe in, the costs go up for everyone else.
Don't believe in birth control, or you take pride in holding the inaccurate, unscientific view that some of the methods are abortion drugs? Fine. DON'T USE THEM. I'm sure there are parts of the health care system that you will use abundantly that I and my family don't.
Why should I support smoking cessation programs when I don't smoke? The fact that helping people get off cigarettes reduces ALL our medical costs is not my problem. Same with drug rehabilitation.
If I'm a Jehovah Witness, why do I have to pay for your drug transfusion? If I've signed a form for no extraordinary measures to cure or resuscitate someone, why should I help pay for someone else's extraordinary measures?
Because WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER.
You either get that or you don't.
2) It's a disgraceful, demeaning way to treat women.
Why do we constantly insist that we must place our self between a woman and her health care decisions?
Study after study has clearly shown that a society is at it's strongest when women are treated as equals, with full rights. Democracy and civilization are only enhanced when we do so. Don't believe it? Look at the state of countries where women are treated even worse than they are here. Those countries are dark, brutal, tyrannical places. Think abortion is the worst problem in the world? Try infanticide for sex selection, genital mutilation, no right to vote, women covered up and treated like possessions of property. No, America is not as bad as that. But we are not what we could be.
The whole focus on birth control reeks of the double standard. I don't want to shock you but....men like sex. Women like sex. Adults have sex. It's a natural part of things and it SHOULD be included in our health care system. So stop it with the slut shaming crap. I'm sick of hearing it.
And yes, there are women who use birth control for other than sexual activity. You need to come to grips with that reality as well.
3) We are making the rights of corporations greater than the rights of people.
This is so sad. An employer can determine your access to parts of the health care program. We have descended into madness. Now not only are corporations people, but they are more important people than YOU are. Insanity. As George Orwell said in Animal Farm - "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others".
If Hobby Lobby wants to only carry Christmas crafts and not Hanukkah, more power to them. But they have no business picking and choosing what laws they have to follow in regards to their employees.
The Supreme Court has busted through a wall of separation that we will all regret them breaking. You're afraid of Big Government? Increasingly in this country, what is Big Government? As Bill Maher recently said "Big Government IS Big Business."
4) You really want the Supreme Court picking what is religious or not?
This is so sad. I have heard so much commentary that this is where it stops. Really? Why? Because a few Supreme Court Justices say so? That this is the one religious objection worthy of disrupting over 200 years of jurisprudence? Why in the world do you think it will stop there?
They have already inundated the courts and process with additional changes. Why cover birth control at all? Why are conservative right wing Christian's grievances legitimate, but not any other groups?
What if it's against my religious beliefs to support drones? Can I opt out of that? What about blood transfusions (Jehovah's Witnesses), mental health care (Scientologists), Shaira law (Islam), any medicine (Christian Scientist) and on and on and on?
They have opened Pandora's Box, and it will flood us with more and more, and the only way to stop it is if the composition of the Supreme Court changes.
My final recommendation to anyone who is even the slightest sympathetic to what I have stated here, besides boycotting Hobby Lobby? Vote. Vote in every election, not just the Presidential years. We are the majority.
IF we decide to show up.
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