Please read the following story from the New York Times regarding the Supreme Court decision involving Hobby Lobby and access to birth control.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/01/us/hobby-lobby-case-supreme-court-contraception.html?_r=0
What is your reaction to this recent move? How does it make you feel?
The outcome of this ruling is very angering. It’s a really huge slap in the face to the reproductive freedoms that were fought for in the 1960’s and 70’s. I also believe that this decision opens up new avenues for anyone to use a violation of religious freedom as a way to discriminate against a set population. Reading into the background of the company, it is said to be that their reason for objecting this provision for contraceptives is because they consider some of the birth control methods to be “tantamount to abortion because they prevent embryos from implanting in the womb” (NY Times, “Questions and answers on the Contraceptive Case”). I believe that these people are confusing terms and using them completely out of context and because of this lack of knowledge, the reproductive rights of women working for this company are erroneously being infringed upon. An abortion is considered the termination of a pregnancy by removing some portion of the uterus that contains a fetus or embryo before it’s considered viable. Contraceptives are chemical or physical agents (such as IUD, etc.) that prevent fertilization so that pregnancy is less likely (or not at all) to occur. By these actual definitions alone, there is no way that someone can equate a contraceptive with an abortion because pregnancy never occurred. Contraceptives are designed to prevent fertilization between a sperm and an egg so that there never is any embryo. How can this be thought of as abortion? This ruling is a great example of sexual oppression to women. Men can go out and fornicate without the cares of becoming pregnant or dealing with a child for reasons that a man becoming pregnant is anatomically impossible and two, there is no guarantee that a man will stay present in the child’s life even if a woman bears his child. However, a woman is not afforded these same opportunities because she will be looked at in promiscuity and by the hands of this ruling, she will not be able to protect herself from pregnancy because she is being denied levels of contraceptive care that are deemed more effective than condoms, diaphragms, sponges, or withdrawal methods.
ReplyDeleteI feel like this ruling pulled from concepts that sounded good and legit. While the religious claim that abortion conflicts with the ideals behind Christianity, I do not feel that it was appropriately used in this case. If this company wanted its female employees to be barefoot and pregnant in someone’s kitchen, I would have much rather them just say that than hide behind some notion that they are trying to protect their own religious freedoms by denying the reproductive freedoms of others.
The outcome of the Hobby Lobby court ruling is complete and total discrimination to women. One of the main reasons Hobby Lobby has decided to deprive their employees from birth control is because they were losing money. It is a woman’s right to have access to birth control and now just because they are trying to save money they feel like they can take this right away from women. As a religious company you should still give your employees protective contraceptive because not all of the employees have the same religious values as the company. The company still has to provide health care for all of its employees, they should just do a comprehensive insurance coverage that covers all methods of contraceptive. Based on the health care law employers are required to provide female workers with health insurance that covers multiple methods of contraception. Being such a big corporation with many female workers they should be required by law to provide health care for their employees, health care that covers contraceptives. If Hobby Lobby fails to comply with giving their employees contraceptive insurance they could face an annual fee of $475 million dollars. Based on this, whether the company gives their employees contraceptive insurance or not they are still losing money because they will have to pay this annual fee. In conclusion, Hobby Lobby is wrong for trying to take one of a woman’s rights away from them. This is just another example of the hardships and discrimination that women have been dealing with and trying to overcome for over a century.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first heard about this ruling, I was completely in shock. I can not believe that the court ruling would result in such discrimination towards women. Being able to have access to birth control is a woman's right. Even though the owner’s of Hobby Lobby have their own personal opinions about contraception that follow along with their religion, they should not be able to use their beliefs as an aid to refuse access to a basic health-care services to their female employees. This is because not all of the employees of Hobby Lobby have the same religion. I do not agree with the decision at all and this current situation proves that discrimination against women is still very much alive today. It makes me wonder that if this act was violating the rights of males, would it have been ruled in favor of?
ReplyDeleteAfter both reading and listening to the news correspondent of the story, I too agree that this will be one of many new addenda to laws concerning birth control/contraceptives. I really think Hobby Lobby dug too far into the "religious" factor for this one. One of the protesters held a sign that said "Bosses: Keep your business in the boardroom and not our bedrooms." I agree with this 100%. The job of the employer is to make sure that they are secure (health wise) by supplying their employees with insurance. It is not up to the employer to determine that being on birth control is best for the employee. Some people are taking precaution because they know that they would reduce their quality of living if a child is born. Thus, the reason of using the birth control to prevent this. As an employer, I feel as though they should be happy that their loyal employees are taking such precautions. Going back to the Systems of Inequality and Privilege question from earlier, religion is an institution. It is an institution that some will use to condemns people for their beliefs. And that is EXACTLY what Hobby Lobby is doing by denying people of their right to birth control. Religion is an expression of ones own belief, and should not be overshadowed by any other religion. This is definitely discrimination against women on so many levels. And we can see that the majority was all men. Again, this ruling is a way of showing women that they are inferior in this society. I do doubt the sincerity of "religious beliefs" of Hobby Lobby. This is aside from the abortion ruling, and I feel as though they made this relevant in their argument. As a young woman, I can honestly say that the use of birth control helps one be "healthy" if they are living a sexually active life. The use of birth control prevents 2 lives being condemned, the user and the unborn child. I definitely think that this ruling should be appealed and revisited.
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