Senate Republicans have blocked a bill that would have overrode the disastrous Hobby Lobby decision and forced for-profit corporations to purchase healthcare plans that covered contraception for female employees. The bill wasn’t likely to pass — even if Senate Republicans let it through, there’s very little chance it would have made it through the GOP-controlled House — but instead was a political move by Democrats, forcing individual Republicans to show their constituency exactly where they stand on the issue.
As I reported on July 9 in a column for?Addicting Info, the fact that the Supreme Court made the decision based on the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act rather than the Constitution is important. It means a further Act of Congress can change parts of the law, which would then effectively override the Supreme Court decision on the issue. The bill Republicans have now blocked would have allowed churches, colleges, hospitals, charities — pretty much anything that isn’t a for-profit corporation — to continue to have exemptions to providing coverage, under religious freedom. Yet for-profit corporations, which many people argue cannot have religious beliefs, would have to cooperate with mandated contraception coverage.
The strategy for Democrats has been clear the entire time, and is well-put in the words of Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), the Senate Majority Leader: “People are going to have to walk down here and vote, and if they vote with the five men on the Supreme Court, I think they’re going to be treated unfavorably come November with the elections.” Republicans have obliged, shooting the bill down.
The bill didn’t get enough votes to move forward, receiving only 56 of the necessary 60, with 43 against. Three Republicans voted with the Democratic Caucus in favor of the bill; Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Sen. Mark Kirk (IL). It remains to be seen whether the GOP decision to block the bill will come back to bite them politically. Currently, estimates give Republicans an 86 percent chance of taking the Senate while Democrats have virtually no chance at all to take the House, according to the?Washington Post.
I’m a millennial with an attitude, and I’m tired of a left wing that has stopped being willing to rise up and fight for the rights of the people. In my short career, I’ve published hundreds of articles on many topics. You can follow me on Google Plus, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or?Instagram.
