Justice and Independence, by Martha Thomases – Brilliant Disguise | @MDWorld

July 7, 2014 Martha Thomases 13 Comments

The Fourth of July is an opportunity for gratitude.  As Americans, we are the beneficiaries of a system that guarantees us the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  We are free to live our lives as we see fit, as long as we respect the rights of others.

Unless we’re women.  Then all bets are off.

in the last two weeks, the Supreme Court has made it clear that, at least in the opinion of the majority, women’s rights are less important than the rights of men, or the rights of corporations.  First, they struck down the Massachusetts law that mandated a buffer zone between women’s health centers and anti-abortion protesters.

(I look forward to organizing anti-gun rallies outside of gun stores, so we can “counsel” potential gun-owners into re-thinking their choices.  I mean, sure, it’s their legal right, but it offends my deeply held religious beliefs.)

 

This week, they said that “closely held private corporations” (in this case, Hobby Lobby) have the right to subject their employees to the whims of the owners’ religious beliefs.

Specifically, the owners of Hobby Lobby want to deny their employees health insurance that includes coverage for contraceptives.  They say this is because they believe all contraceptives to be abortifacients, although this has no basis in fact.  It’s bad enough that these employers are ignorant.  It’s worse that the court values this faith-based ignorance over the employees’ right to confidential and private relationships with their doctors.

(By the way, the exalted faith of the owners of Hobby Lobby doesn’t extend to their investment practices.  They also do business with China, which is also anti-choice, in that the government demands abortion for those it decides have had enough children. I can only presume they believe in profit more than their version of God.)

Oh, and they aren’t the only ones.

It’s bad enough the Supreme Court made this decision.  It’s worse that so many people use it as an opportunity to blame women for being complete (which means sexual) human beings.  To quote one of my links, “And that’s exactly why far-right conservatives are so opposed to contraception: They correctly realize that it allows women freedoms that were once nearly impossible but for a privileged few. And their ideal society hinges on a family with the husband as head and the wife as a “helpmeet.” Contraception inches her closer to being an equal player.”

Now, I realize I’m not a Christian (although I did go to an Episcopal boarding school and take a theology class led by a priest), but I don’t remember any verses in the New Testament that encouraged believers to call women whores and sluts, as many did in the quoted article.  I guess they are as likely to be theologically consistent as they are to be scientifically consistent.

The Supreme Court initially said that their opinion in this case was to be defined narrowly.  But if you think you’re off the hook just because you don’t have a uterus, think again.  It’s only a matter of time before someone claims his/her religion prohibits mixing the races, or demands that women, men or both keep their heads covered.

I eagerly await the first Muslim-owned business to invoke this law.

Martha Plimpton recently wrote something that says what I’m trying to say better than I can say it.  Three out of ten women have had, or will have abortions.  I share her horror at the thought of what will happen to women denied contraception coverage, denied safe and legal abortions, and forced to go to the filthy butchers who profit from the system Hobby Lobby wants to enact.

Meanwhile, in other healthcare news, the United States once again suffers because we allow our medical system to be run for profit, not people.  People are going to die because of this, but I don’t see any anti-abortion activists picketing for the right to life of those already born.

Martha Thomases, Media Goddess, used to appreciate the Fourth of July because bathing suits went on sale, but she had a waist then.