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riversedge

(69,721 posts)
Thu Sep 15, 2022, 05:20 PM Sep 2022

A Texas Judge Just Took Religious 'Freedom' Too Far






Bloomberg Opinion
@opinion
Last week, a federal district court held that a Christian employer is entitled to an exemption from the requirement that all insurance plans must cover pre-exposure prophylaxis (PreP) drugs that prevent the spread of HIV


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A Texas Judge Just Took Religious ‘Freedom’ Too Far
A federal district court ruling that holds a Christian employer can stop offering health insurance covering anti-HIV drugs deserves more attention.


Bloomberg Opinion @opinion
The court’s decision, under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), seems to resemble the exemption from the Affordable Care Act’s mandatory contraceptive coverage that the Supreme Court granted in the 2014 Hobby Lobby case




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If upheld by the appellate court and the Supreme Court, the ruling would exempt an employer who refused to provide health-care coverage of any kind on the ground that medical insurance encourages people to rely on medical science in planning their lives https://trib.al/URKXZcb


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Replying to
@opinion
How important is this case? You have to go back to 2014.

That’s when Hobby Lobby claimed its religious liberty was burdened by providing insurance for contraception. It considers contraception religiously wrong




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In the new case, Braidwood claimed its religious exercise was substantially burdened because providing PreP drugs “encourage homosexual behavior, prostitution, sexual promiscuity and intravenous drug use” https://trib.al/URKXZcb





Under the new ruling, anyone who wants to avoid almost any provision of federal law would be able to say that obeying the law would enable behavior that his religion disfavors


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The Department of Health and Human Services argued Braidwood’s claim was based on an “empirical” assertion, namely that these medicines “facilitate” gay and extramarital sex.

HHS said Braidwood should have to prove its fact-based claim about the world



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The court sharply rejected HHS’s position.

“Defendants [HHS] inappropriately contest the correctness” of Braidwood’s beliefs, the court wrote, “when courts may test only the sincerity of those beliefs”



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The long-run consequences of accepting all asserted religious liberty claims is that there is no logical stopping place
for what valid religious liberty claims can be made for religious exemptions from federal law


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Exemptions to prevent forcing people to personally violate their own religious beliefs are one thing.

Exemptions dreamt up to drive a broader set of social-religious objectives are another

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A Texas Judge Just Took Religious ‘Freedom’ Too Far

A federal district court ruling that holds a Christian employer can stop offering health insurance covering anti-HIV drugs deserves more attention.


https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-09-14/texas-prep-drug-ruling-in-braidwood-case-should-be-overturned?sref=sxorlmMs&leadSource=uverify%20wall

Noah Feldman September 14, 2022 at 7:30 AM CDT
Listen to this article



The long march of religious liberty exemptions is gaining speed. The people who brought you contraceptive care exemptions and Covid rule and vaccine exemptions have now moved on to insurance for anti-HIV drugs. Last week, a federal district court held that a Christian employer is entitled to an exemption from the requirement that all insurance plans must cover pre-exposure prophylaxis (PreP) drugs that prevent the spread of HIV................
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dchill

(38,320 posts)
1. CHRISTIAN religious liberty, he means.
Thu Sep 15, 2022, 05:24 PM
Sep 2022

These creeps have the right to infect, sicken and kill us all in the service of their golden idols. God damn them.

magicarpet

(13,937 posts)
2. Alleluia,.. this Texas employer couldn't get any more Christian than that.
Thu Sep 15, 2022, 05:37 PM
Sep 2022

Just exactly what Jeebuzz extolled on a daily basis - taught and preached near and far.

The sick,
The ill,
The less fortunate,
Fuck 'em.




unblock

(51,974 posts)
3. Pat for the course for the pro-death and suffering party
Thu Sep 15, 2022, 05:43 PM
Sep 2022

Their religious belief is that anyone who doesn't behave exactly how we and our minority interpretation of what our god wants them to behave deserves to suffer and die, and they gave the right to use government to enforce their religious edicts.

They are everything they wailed about regarding sharia law and death panels and so on. But they call it Christianity instead of Islam so it's holy instead of evil.

keithbvadu2

(36,362 posts)
5. Next... a religious exemption to not cover Jews, Muslims, other non-Christians and certainly not the
Thu Sep 15, 2022, 08:04 PM
Sep 2022

Next... a religious exemption to not cover Jews, Muslims, other non-Christians and certainly not the 'wrong' kind of Christians.

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