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The Student News Site of Saint Louis University

The University News

The Student News Site of Saint Louis University

The University News

Deform or reform for healthcare? Birth control mandate in Affordable Care Act

The Catholic Church has long held the belief that the use of contraceptives is against the will of God.  A recent decision by the Obama administration has threatened to make this belief obsolete. Obama’s crowning legislative achievement, the Affordable Care Act passed in 2010, now includes a requirement that all Catholic hospitals and universities must provide contraceptives to employees as part of their healthcare plans.

In the past, religious institutions have been largely exempted from laws running contrary to fundamental beliefs because of the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of religion. Obama’s decision to not include an exemption for Catholic institutions is an unabashed intrusion of the federal government into the religious liberties of all people, regardless of faith.

This decision has led to a large backlash from the Catholic Church across the country. Rick Jervis from USA Today wrote that Catholic priests from across the country were taking the “rare step of reading letters from the pulpit to urge parishioners…to oppose” the contraceptive mandate.

St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson spoke out against the mandate and called it a “direct attack on our religious freedom.” Mitt Romney tweeted that this was just another example of “attacks on religious liberty” from the Obama administration. Newt Gingrich characterized the mandate as a “war” and an “assault on religious freedom.” These are just a few of the thoughts running across the nation.

Now I have to ask why Obama felt the need to force Catholic institutions to provide something that goes against their beliefs. Does he really believe that it is necessary for them to provide contraceptives in their healthcare plans? He should realize that the gas station on the corner of the street sells condoms cheaply.

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It seems almost like a political ploy to fire up the Democratic base for the upcoming election. I don’t want to believe that, but I also don’t want to believe that our president is completely ignorant of the First Amendment’s promise of the freedom to exercise religion. The mandatory inclusion of contraceptives in healthcare plans is so far away from the basic health needs of people that it only serves as a political tool to appease the women’s rights groups on the left of the political spectrum.

This contraceptive mandate should not even be included in the healthcare reform law.  The mandate makes healthcare even more unattractive for employers. The only things that should be included in healthcare plans provided by employers are basic procedures and surgeries. It is not the responsibility of an employer to make sure that an employee does not get pregnant.  That is the sole responsibility of the employee as an adult. The employer should only be concerned about whether or not their employees are healthy enough to work; not if the employee has a surprise gift from the stork.

This might not seem like such a big deal, compared to our nation’s huge deficit problem or the War on Terror, but it should rank close up there. When the federal government can blatantly bypass the First Amendment and tell a religious organization their practices are wrong and they have to conform to the rest of society, people should start to get worried.

The First Amendment is the basis of all the liberties we Americans enjoy and often take for granted. This “attack” on our religious liberties has to stop. The line separating church and state is already a slippery slope. If this mandate is allowed to continue, it will act as precedent for further intrusions into the religious liberties of Americans. No one should fall under the belief that this is a problem only for Catholics. Every American of every faith should immediately realize that this is a problem with huge consequences.

Washington, D.C., is in need of a reality check, provided courtesy of the American people.

 

Justin Hand is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences.

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