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Written by Debra Haffner for RH Reality Check. This diary is cross-posted; commenters wishing to engage directly with the author should do so at the original post.
Freedom from contraception? (Photo: Beatrice Murch / Flickr).
The Catholic bishops have begun a two-week campaign leading up to July 4th with the central focus of removing contraceptive coverage from health insurance reform. Of course, the Supreme Court any minute now may end or modify the Affordable Care Act, which may make this debate moot.
The bishops are calling their campaign a “Fortnight for Freedom” and cloaking their objection to modern methods of contraception in a religious liberty argument. It is a classic example of those on the religious right who would restrict individual freedom to make private sexual choices co-opting language to confuse and gain supporters. It is reminiscent of the right’s coinage of “partial-birth abortion” for abortion procedures after 20 weeks and the use of the term “death panels” in health care debates.
As a religious leader and as a person of faith, I of course support religious freedom. So does the U.S. Constitution and so, I presume, do you. To me, and millions of people of faith, religious freedom means that all persons should be free to make their own personal decisions about their sexual and reproductive lives, including their decisions about when, whether, or if to have children. These decisions are optimally informed by their conscience, faith tradition, religious beliefs and families, but ultimately they are deeply personal decisions that individuals can and should have the freedom to make for themselves.
Religious freedom means that the government should not privilege the teachings of one religion over another or deny individual religious freedom. Individuals must have the right to accept or reject the principles of their own faith without legal restrictions. The Catholic bishops do not speak for all faith traditions on contraception; indeed they don’t even speak for the people in their pews who use and support family planning in overwhelming majorities. It is past time for the Vatican and the American Bishops to understand that they cannot claim final moral authority in domestic or (as we saw in Rio last week) international discourse.
It is up to each of us to not allow the Catholic bishops or anyone else to co-opt religious freedom. Universal access to family planning does not require anyone to use contraception – rather it assures that individual moral agency and conscience are respected. Supporting religious freedom means supporting the right of all of us to make our own moral decisions. We know a wolf in sheep’s clothing when we see it.
3 Comments
Exactly what does contraception have to do with health insurance?
Providing people with free contraceptives may make sense in terms of saving the planet (that is not snark, I am serious), it may be a worthwhile goal, it may prevent children coming into the world who are not fulling embraced by ready, eager parents. … But .. aside from requiring a prescription (which arguably it should not) there is no reason to consider this a “health care” option.
No one is stopping any woman from purchasing contraceptives herself. Just like no one stops a man from purchasing a Trojan. Should Trojans be free? If so, how about the ones that are sold as “twisters”? The ones that taste like fruit?
There may be little moral authority in the Vatican’s disingenuous campaign, but there is no moral authority on the other side, either.
You pretty much answered your first sentence in your next paragraph. It requires a prescription, end of story. They are not free. If they come with health insurance, the employee is paying for them…as is the employer. I can’t figure out why so many don’t understand the concept of health insurance? What is free about paying for health insurance? Because I’m a type 1 diabetic am I getting “free” insulin?? I feel by paying a health insurance premium, it’s really not free. Why do people still make the claim that this is “free” contraception? It’s an idiotic and dishonest argument.
I think the bigger question is what does health insurance have to do with health care rather than what does contraception have to do with health insurance.
Condoms are available free in many cases, but let’s set that side for now.
Hormonal birth control can costs hundreds or thousands of dollars a year. Compare that with the cost of your Trojans. Trojans keep you from impregnating someone or getting an STD. In addition to contraception, hormonal birth control can help women with excruciatingly painful or irregular periods, manage migraines, Fibromyalgia, and other serious health conditions.
If you impregnate a woman, it is costly and perhaps inconvenient if the child is unwanted. In some cases, pregnancy can cost a woman her life.
This is a little more than condoms.