Free-swinging arms

Much has been written about the United States Supreme Court decision in the “Hobby Lobby” case that effectively will deny some women access to four types of birth control because it no longer has to be a covered cost under their employer’s health coverage.
Some have written, “What’s the big deal, why can’t those women just use a different type of birth control, one of the more than a dozen that are still covered by their employer’s insurance?”
Others say, “It was only a few years ago the Affordable Care Act passed when it was declared that being a woman would no longer be considered a ‘pre-existing condition.’ What happened?”
The case of Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. was a fight over whether the regulation by the Department of Health and Human Services requiring employers to provide their female employees with no-cost access to contraception violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).
The decision affirmed on June 30 said that as applied to “closely held for-profit corporations,” the regulations imposing the contraceptive mandate violated the RFRA.
The Supreme Court’s split decision — 5-4 — characterized the way so many Americans are split on these same issues.
What constitutes abortion? When does life begin? Who should be in charge of women’s bodies?
Wait, what? Are people really debating who should be in charge of making medical decisions about my body? About when and how I ovulate?
Apparently so.
Before the Affordable Care Act, I went to my health care provider to inquire about certain types of birth control. I was told the type I wanted wasn’t covered by my employer’s insurance. They would still happily order it for me, but it would cost me $900 out of pocket.
A few years later (after having another baby) I inquired again.
This time, my birth control of choice (the same one as before) was covered. I paid my doctor’s visit co-pay and that was all.
The type of medication I chose is legal. It’s FDA approved. And my decision did not affect my employer, or have any impact on his beliefs.
I made the medical choice I wanted, and was able to afford the option I chose that was best for myself and my family.
But some women won’t be able to do that after the Hobby Lobby decision.
We believe strongly in the Constitutional Right of Freedom of Religion guaranteed by the First Amendment.
We also believe that the Affordable Care Act, and its provisions — including the contraceptive mandate — will benefit Americans and their overall health.
But we have to figure out a way to have both of those things at the same time.  
The owners of Hobby Lobby believe that life begins at conception and that it would violate their religion to facilitate access to contraceptive drugs or devices that operate after that point.
We agree with the dissenting opinion that “It would deny legions of women who do not hold their employers’ beliefs access to contraceptive coverage that the ACA would otherwise secure.”
And like the high court has ruled in the past in regards to Freedom of Speech. “(y)our right to swing your arms ends just where the other man’s nose begins.”
Let’s keep the free-swinging arms of the religion of some people away from the reproductive systems of thousands of women.
— Kerrie Lindecker