Work Post: Birth Control

[ericadawn16]

I don't have health insurance through work but I don't believe companies should be able to impose their religious beliefs on their employees.

If the Supreme Court sides with Hobby Lobby that they can deny their employees portions of health insurance that the federal government deems necessary, then this sets a dangerous precedent. What's stopping businesses from saying other elements of health care are also against their religious beliefs, like in vitro fertilization, life-saving measures like organ transplants or experimental procedures?

I do agree that things are tricky. People who disagree with secular schools are free to put their children in religious schools so it makes sense that people would want to work for those with their same beliefs but at the same time...

If all of your employees believe in the same things you do, including not using birth control, wouldn't they simply not exercise their right to have it under the law? Why should it be such a big deal for you to offer something when no one is going to use it anyway?

Unless, of course, you want to be an asshole and impose your religious beliefs on those you KNOW don't believe in the same way you do.

It's like that old comic about religion in schools that says that there'll be prayer in schools as long as schools continue to have tests because individuals are free to express their beliefs how they want. I know I prayed silently a lot in school.

I haven't seen a single Democrat on C-SPAN. Even my mom commented on that.

Comments

[ragnarok-08.livejournal.com]

Ugh, I hate it when people, and especially companies, should force their beliefs down others' throats. DX

[allisnow.livejournal.com]

Then don't shop or work there. Yay, problem solved!

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

The job market is healthy enough that people can get to pick and choose where they work? Or are they just bloody grateful to even have a job?

[allisnow.livejournal.com]

The job market is healthy enough that people can get to pick and choose where they work?

Depends on who you ask. But with all the people who have dropped out of the job market in the past few years, it's a lot less competitive than it was. And it's not like retail is a specialized field. I hear Home Depot and Lowe's alone are looking to hire 100K POS people nationwide. In any case, the state of the job market isn't HL's - or any individual company's - problem. We have a free market system. If it's that important for an individual to get Plan B paid for, I guess they can always just decline HL's coverage and purchase Obamacare instead. I hear it's super affordable.

[aviv-b.livejournal.com]

Obama care is only available if your employer doesn't offer insurance. So if your insurance doesn't cover BC you would have to pay for it out of your pocket.

I guess if we go down this road a Seventh Day Advent could offer health insurance that covered prayer only because they don't believe in seeing Doctors. And since I keep Kosher, I'll just deny you insulin that is derived from pigs. See the problem yet?

[allisnow.livejournal.com]

Obama care is only available if your employer doesn't offer insurance. So if your insurance doesn't cover BC you would have to pay for it out of your pocket.

Nooo... I personally have the option of dropping my health care through work and buying Obamacare. Your job cannot force you to use their insurance. (By the way, in case you missed it, HL offers BC coverage. They don't care to offer 4 kinds of abortifacients, such as Plan B).

I guess if we go down this road a Seventh Day Advent could offer health insurance that covered prayer only because they don't believe in seeing Doctors. And since I keep Kosher, I'll just deny you insulin that is derived from pigs. See the problem yet?

The problem, if you've been following any of the Supreme Court coverage, is that the government has to prove that there is a "compelling interest." It's their burden of proof. I don't think Plan B rises to the level of doctor care or insulin, but that's just me.

[allisnow.livejournal.com]

"Out of 20 FDA-approved contraceptives, Hobby Lobby currently provides 16, choosing to oppose only those that terminate a pregnancy after conception, like Plan B."

[celeste9]

Yeah, I don't see the problem with this, personally. Forcing them to include those 4 contraceptives, that terminate pregnancy after conception, is essentially forcing them to support abortion, which is forcing someone else's beliefs down their throats. It goes both ways.

[allisnow.livejournal.com]

Exactly. It's ridiculous to make this a birth control case (I blame Sandra Fluke ;)) when this comes down to a few abortifacients (including one available at Walgreens) that (if I'm remember the stats correctly) only 7% of women actually use.

[gwynevere1.livejournal.com]

Not everything Hobby Lobby is denying causes an abortion. Of the pills named, only RU-486 causes abortion. The "morning after pill"--such as Plan B and Elle--does not cause abortion. It prevents ovulation and fertilization. Hobby Lobby, however, *believes* that this is the same as an abortion, even though their belief is not based any medicine, it has to be accepted as true for legal argument.

[allisnow.livejournal.com]

So, say HL *only* wanted to deny RU-486. Would that be okay?

[ericadawn16.livejournal.com]

I could consider that as a fair compromise.

However, I would also want to know whether they cover medically necessary abortions or does the family have to pay out of pocket for that, too?

It's horrible enough to be placed in that situation without all those extra medical expenses on top of it.

[gwynevere1.livejournal.com]

My original point was that their science is flat-out wrong. Their medical understanding is wrong. It shouldn't be a question of religious beliefs if those "beliefs" contradict real-world medicine.

As for your question, the best discussion of the legal question I have heard was from the panel on Melissa Harris-Perry's show: Can Corporations Claim Religious Expression? (I suggest skipping ahead to 3:30). I agree with Professor Akhil Reed Amar's analysis--the rights of the employees, who are not members of this religious group, outweigh the claims of the employer. Thus, no, it would not be OK.

[allisnow.livejournal.com]

HL isn't making an argument of science, they're making an argument of religious liberty. Which one is in the Constitution?

HL is the one being forced by the government to provide coverage. No one is forcing their employees to remain at HL.

Oh, and did Melissa wear her tampon earrings to this panel? ;)

[gwynevere1.livejournal.com]

Not everything Hobby Lobby is denying causes an abortion. Of the pills named, only RU-486 causes abortion. The "morning after pill"--such as Plan B and Elle--does not cause abortion. It prevents ovulation and fertilization. Hobby Lobby, however, *believes* that this is the same as an abortion, even though their belief is not based any medicine, it has to be accepted as true for legal argument.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Very dangerous precedent indeed. Though wasn't that precedent set quite a while ago, and this is the continuing creep towards something increasingly scary.

[nesmith.livejournal.com]

What's even more infuriating is that at one time they covered these things without complaint, but now that's it's a political football they're making it an issue.

[i-llbedammned.livejournal.com]

All I can think of is "How would you feel if the beliefs of other gods were forcibly applied to you?"

[allisnow.livejournal.com]

I'd probably go find a job somewhere else.