Unless you live in a hole you know that the Supreme Court ruled that privately held companies have a right to refuse their employees certain health coverage mandated by the Affordable Care Act. These employers believe certain benefits do not fit into their religious doctrine. The case stemmed around Hobby Lobby’s desire to refuse coverage for the morning after pill, for as they see it, this is abortion, and does not fit into their religious views. As with all things political, I don’t think the winners of this case have any idea of the impending doom of this decision.
Democrats are now scrambling to amend the healthcare law to override the Court’s decision, but I think we all know that since Congress has mandated not to vote for anything, this action is pretty much worthless. Therefore, nothing will change. Most people can’t see three feet beyond their nose. As a consequence we are now in a situation that I believe we have yet to see the full impact.
For example, this verdict reminds me of a time in the 1970’s when a women’s group protested that their health insurance premiums were too high. They argued that the decision by the insurance industry to charge them more for coverage was “sexist” and “unconstitutional.” They were so blinded by their own idiology that they didn’t look at what the response would be if they were to win their argument. They thought, naively so, that their rates would lower. The reality: to ensure equality, the insurance industry raised the rates of the men to meet those of the women. Yep…you won, and you screwed an entire population in the process.
That’s how I know what will happen now. Because a small group of people…let’s face it…this is one family…felt they had a right to deny certain benefits based on their religious beliefs an entire population of people are now burdened. Hobby Lobby thinks they have won something. In reality they have lost. And the problem is that they have lost for all of us.
When Christian Evangelicals tout their beliefs and how they feel that religion should be paramount in all political discourse, they don’t realize that there are other religions than their own. There are other belief structures which fly in the face of their beliefs. So, when they make a religious argument in a government setting, they open themselves up to having to accommodate the beliefs of others. This is something they find abhorrent.
Let me give you an example of what may have just been done with the decision: Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that to take blood, blood products, organ transplants, or any product made with human blood is a sin. That means that if you work for a company owned by a Jehovah’s Witness, based on the latest decision, they have a right to deny benefits which will pay for blood transfusions, organ transplants, bone marrow transplants, and a whole host of other therapies which will save your life but are extravagantly expensive. I know what you’re thinking, how many Jehovah’s Witnesses own their own businesses? Answer…most of them.
You might also want to consider this: Companies can now deny vaccinations or coverage for any drug for that matter as long as they claim it is against their religion. While I hold that an individual has a right to deny themselves medical care, I do not believe they have a right to deny me of that same care. I also believe that if your actions endanger you, and only you, that’s fine. But they should not endanger me. Failing to vaccinate puts all of us in danger. What are we going to do about that? I learned something very basic in grade school Civics: Your Rights are only protected as long as they don’t infringe on the Rights of others. This infringes on my rights.
Can Companies now make the argument that they have the right to deny coverage for AIDS medication based on the idea that only Gay people get AIDS? I know what you’re thinking “We proved a long time ago that AIDS is not a Gay disease.” Really…have we? Don’t say that to Scott Lively. He’s running for Governor in Massachusetts. See what he thinks: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/03/hilarious-anti-gay-music-video_n_5555126.html.
So kids, while you think you have won something, you haven’t. You just lost far more than you have gained. By your actions your employer, not your physician, is now making health decisions for you. You just willingly gave up all the rights you had with the Affordable Care Act. So now that you willingly gave up all your rights to health, tell me something: How can you call yourselves Conservative? Sounds like Communism to me!
Kisses
Rex