It's
not unusual for liberals to lie but the lies... I mean “political
spin”... surrounding the contraception controversy are getting a
little more whopping than usual. On the DHHS
website, Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said, “This
proposal [the
Blunt Amendment]
isn't limited to contraception nor is it limited to any preventive
service. Any employer could restrict access
to any service they say they object to. This is dangerous and wrong”
(bold added for emphasis). Nancy
Pelosi has said
the Blunt Amendment is, “part
of the Republican agenda of disrespecting women’s health issues
[by] allowing
employers to cut … basic health services for women,
like contraception, mammograms, prenatal and cervical-cancer
screenings and preventive health reform benefiting 20 million women”
(bold added for emphasis).
Lie,
lie, lie. The impression given by these statements is that
Republicans want to take away women's access to birth control or any
other “health care” service they might want to deny on a whim.
It's a bold misrepresentation. No one is denying or even discussing
denying women access to any health service. The only question being
raised is, “who has to pay for it?”
The
controversy was raised when Catholics began to publicly and strongly
object to the DHHS guidelines that mandated
Catholic employers
like churches, hospitals, charities, and colleges, to provide
contraception to their female employees as part of their
employer-provided health insurance plans. The Catholic church
objects to the use of contraceptives and said forcing them to pay for
contraception for its female employees violates their freedom of
religion.
What
part of the First Amendment is ambiguous? Let me remind everyone
what the Bill of Rights says: Congress
shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof.
The Catholic Church has long objected to the use of contraceptives.
To suddenly mandate the Church to pay for contraceptives for its
female employees clearly places a prohibition on their free exercise
of this long standing belief.
But
liberals see it differently. They believe other rights exists –
like a right to “health care.” Now, I've read the Constitution
but I can't quote it from memory so I've done a word search on the
Constitution. Curiously, the words, “right to health care”
aren't found anywhere. By the way, neither could I find a “right
to privacy.” If these rights exist, they aren't enumerated the way
our freedom to religion is. At best, they are implied.
Let's
assume, for a moment, that there is a right to health care. Who has
the bigger right? Does the implied right to healthcare somehow trump
my enumerated right to exercise my religion? Why must it?
Of
course, that's not good enough for liberals. If someone has a right
to health care, they believe that means they're guaranteed health
care. OK, let's apply that same logic to the right to bear arms.
Consider this analogy: The right to own a gun is enumerated in the
Constitution. Have you ever bought a gun? A nice gun isn't cheap.
A 9mm handgun could set you back about $400.00. Are only rich people
allowed to exercise the right to own a gun? How can poor people like
me afford $400 to buy a gun? Since I have the right to own a gun,
what I need is for my employer to buy me one.
Here's
a twist: what if I worked for Rosie O'Donnell? From what I've heard,
Rosie O'Donnell doesn't believe people should have the right to carry
guns (except for her bodyguards). That doesn't matter, though. I
have the right to own a gun and, according to liberal logic, Rosie
must buy me one no matter what her own conscientious objection might
be.
Somehow
I don't think liberals would go for the idea of compelling employers
to buy guns for their employees. But they can't see the similarity in
that and forcing employers to provide contraceptives for their
employees.
“Rights”
are not entitlements nor guarantees. The idea that the government
can compel one person to act against his conscience in order to
guarantee the right of another is anathema to liberty. The dangers
that surround this issue are many and I intend to spend a couple of
more posts talking about them. For now though, let me just say that
a woman's “right” to birth control is no more sacred than my
right to exercise my faith. Here's an idea: I will practice my
religion and you buy your own contraceptives!
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