Students Reflect on Women’s Reproductive Rights 2

According to the Christian Science Monitor, Obama’s contraception proposal is “a regulation that expands women’s access to birth control methods, including drugs that induce abortion,” paid for by women’s employers.

Apparently, considering abortion and “drugs that induce abortion,” to be immoral is not enough. To be exempt from paying contraception coverage for employees because of religion, a company must meet these criteria: “1) their purpose has to be to inculcate religious values, 2) they have to primarily employ people who share their faith, 3) they have to primarily serve people who share their faith, and 4) they must be nonprofit organizations.”

It is not within the government’s power to create guidelines to determine whether one qualifies as being “religious.” Obama has overstepped his power as President. Human Life International President Father Shenan Boquet claims that Obama and the Department of Health and Human Services have “started a battle between church and state.”

David Rivkin Jr. and Edward Whelan of the Wall Street Journal argue that the contraception policy violates the First Amendment of the Constitution and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, signed by President Clinton. According to Rivkin and Whelan, the RFRA states that “any later statutory override of its protections [which include a person’s exercise of religion without “excessive” burden] must be explicit.”

These authors write that “there is nothing in the ObamaCare legislation that explicitly or even implicitly overrides the RFRA…the birth control mandate proposed by Health and Human Services is thus illegal.”

This is more than just one rights issue. Religious rights, rights of employers, personal morals, and most importantly, the rights of unborn children all come into play.

Women will still have the right to contraception. However, employers should not have to fund an intentional discarding of life.

This policy is constitutionally illegal and it further divides the country. This administration must respect the limits of its power and represent the entire American population.

Sources:

http://thestir.cafemom.com/healthy_living/108178/Ella_Abortion_Pill_or_Wonder http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/eric-cantors-first-amendment-arguments-against-contraception-mandate/2012/03/08/gIQAf7EE1R_blog.html http://commonwealmagazine.org/contraception-mandate-constitutional http://winteryknight.wordpress.com/2012/02/11/obama-revises-contraception-plan-but-catholic-groups-still-pay-for-abortion-drugs/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_vitro_fertilisation http://www.geneveith.com/2012/02/13/compromise-on-insurance-birth-control-mandate/