It comes as a shock to no one that the GOP wants to get, dismantle, burn, and bury the Affordable Care Act. They have made it their full time mission to defeat the law that has already passed and stood up to a Supreme Court challenge.
The only major competitor for their attention is their obsession, of the creepy uncle variety, with the US female population’s lady parts.?If you were worried they would neglect one mission over the other, don’t. ?Congressman Paul Ryan would like you to know that by fixating on getting rid of the birth control mandate he and other republican leaders have managed to roll both obsessions into one packaged deal. Now they can attack the ACA and fixate on lady parts at the same time which, means they can work even less then they already are.
In a meeting to discuss options for accepting a deal formed in the Senate regarding the budget and debt ceiling, Ryan argued that the House would need those deadlines as ?leverage? for delaying the health-care law?s, individual mandate, and adding a ?conscience clause.?
This?clause will?allow employers and insurers to opt out of birth-control coverage if they find it objectionable on moral or religious grounds. It also mentioned tax and entitlement goals Ryan had focused on in a recent op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, ?according to the Washington Post.
The Affordable Care Act ?does require that?employers and insurers provide no-cost contraception coverage as part of health care plans. It also contains an exemption for churches and religious nonprofits that employ people who are mostly of the same faith. That is not the impression that Ryan and other members of the GOP like to give; including Ted Cruz floating around the lie that nuns are being forced to buy abortion drugs. According to Think Progress;
In a?compromise?between Catholic groups and the White House, religiously affiliated colleges, universities, and hospitals that wish to avoid providing birth control can also opt out of offering the benefits, while their employees receive contraception coverage at no additional cost sharing directly from the insurer.
That is not good enough for Paul Ryan and other Republicans. They want to see this “conscience clause” applied to all employers. While they keep talking about birth control, this could allow an employer to morally object to any medical coverage based on their religious beliefs?instead of?your needs.
It seems obvious that when the GOP leadership speaks of Hobby Lobby and others restricting employees access to birth control, they can only foresee like minded Christians seeking these exemptions. They are fine with that. Denying women birth control that they think is the same as abortion is fine with them. It is time for them to think a bit broader than the insides of their own heads and narrow minded bubbles.
There are religions that don’t approve of blood transfusions and heart transplants. Some people belong to faiths that don’t believe in mental health care. There are faiths that don’t believe in a whole host of medical procedures, including faiths that believe prayer is the only medicine you need. What happens if religious employers with those beliefs don’t want to cover those things? There is a reason why Europeans look at us like we are insane when we say our employers are allowed to have this much ownership our life and death healthcare decisions. There should be a separation of religion and personal healthcare unless the patient puts it there.
Edited by SS
