Freedom of and From Religion - Bill Moyers

[cbayer]

Bill MoyersManaging Editor, Moyers & Company

Freedom of and From Religion
Posted: 02/16/2012 11:22 am

The president did something agile and wise the other day. And something quite important to the health of our politics. He reached up and snuffed out what some folks wanted to make into a cosmic battle between good and evil. No, said the president, we're not going to turn the argument over contraception into Armageddon, this is an honest difference between Americans, and I'll not see it escalated into a holy war. So instead of the government requiring Catholic hospitals and other faith-based institutions to provide employees with health coverage involving contraceptives, the insurance companies will offer that coverage, and offer it free.

The Catholic bishops had cast the president's intended policy as an infringement on their religious freedom; they hold birth control to be a mortal sin, and were incensed that the government might coerce them to treat it otherwise. The president in effect said: No quarrel there; no one's going to force you to violate your doctrine. But Catholics are also Americans, and if an individual Catholic worker wants coverage, she should have access to it -- just like any other American citizen. Under the new plan, she will. She can go directly to the insurer, and the religious institution is off the hook.

When the president announced his new plan, the bishops were caught flat-footed. It was so ... so reasonable. In fact, leaders of several large, Catholic organizations have now said yes to the idea. But the bishops have since regrouped, and are now opposing any mandate to provide contraceptives even if their institutions are not required to pay for them. And for their own reasons, Republican leaders in Congress have weighed in on the bishops' side. They're demanding, and will get, a vote in the Senate.

more...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-moyers/obama-contraception-compromise-freedom-of-and-from-religion_b_1281942.html

[MarkCharles]

1. As I understand it, Catholic Bishops and priests are all....

MEN!

What interest could they possibly have in dictating the health and fate of women?

This is just another reason why religiously devout believers seem to me to be simply power-hungry personality types, who constantly feel the need to gain control of the behaviors of others. Religious "beliefs", (not scientific facts), are most often involved in this personality pattern that seeks influence and control over other persons.

As Catholic Nancy Pelosi asked this morning about the hearing on birth control in the House of Representatives, "where are the women?" ...two panels totaling NINE MEN testified, there were no women testifying.


[div class="excerpt"]As Nancy Pelosi tweeted: Where are the women?

Here's some of the testimony they excluded, from Sandra Fluke, a third-year student at Georgetown Law, a Jesuit school:

In the worst cases, women who need this medication for other medical reasons suffer dire consequences. A friend of mine, for example, has polycystic ovarian syndrome and has to take prescription birth control to stop cysts from growing on her ovaries. Her prescription is technically covered by Georgetown insurance because it's not intended to prevent pregnancy. At many schools, it wouldn't be, and under Senator Blunt's amendment, Senator Rubio's bill, or Representative Fortenberry's bill, there's no requirement that an exception be made for such medical needs.

[...]

In sixty-five percent of cases, our female students were interrogated by insurance representatives and university medical staff about why they need these prescriptions and whether they're lying about their symptoms. For my friend, and 20% of women in her situation, she never got the insurance company to cover her prescription, despite verification of her illness from her doctor. Her claim was denied repeatedly on the assumption that she really wanted the birth control to prevent pregnancy. She's gay, so clearly polycystic ovarian syndrome was a much more urgent concern than accidental pregnancy.

[...]

This is the message that not requiring coverage of contraception sends. A woman's reproductive healthcare isn't a necessity, isn't a priority.

Here's video of her full testimony:

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com//karoli/conservatives-horrible-hypocrisy-womens-hea