We won’t let you murder the precious zygote God sent you, dear
Somebody leaked a DHHS rules proposal that would prohibit medical clinics receiving federal funding from discriminating against any provider who has a moral objection to offering abortion — including certain types of birth control. I actually plowed through most of it - you can read it here - but the NYT article is much more digestible.
This seems to mean that, among other things, states wouldn’t be able to enact laws requiring clinics to offer Plan B to rape victims.
I don’t think that this is the first step in a conspiracy to make birth control pills illegal across America and doom women to a Handmaid’s Tale existence as breeders in heterosexual bondage. Because, for one thing, I’m pretty sure that people who believe that birth control pills constitute a monthly abortion represent a very small percentage of the American population.
Maybe–and I hope this is true– the real problem is that the same people who reject contraceptives disproportionately represent health care providers for the poor. Might be time to write a check to Planned Parenthood.
July 16th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
I give my money to NOW - the local Planned Parenthood has several times mistreated and mishandled things, the last time resulting in us leaving the building in the middle of an appointment. They are disorganized, rude and gave an abstinence lecture to a 21-year-old!
July 16th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Sheesh, more government intervention. Let Planned Parenthood (and other clinics) do what they want. The government needs to stay out of it. It seems odd that people who object to abortion or contraceptives would want to work @ PP or other places where their beliefs are in the minority. If people don’t agree with abortion, then they should continue to donate their time and money to their respective pro-life charities such as Sav-A-Life or some other similar organization.
The bottom line is the government needs to stay out of it. They should not be telling organizations, church’s or anyone who they can and can not hire. No one should be forced to hire someone just b/c of their race, gender, sexual orientation, hair color, whatever. Skill-set and experience should be the only criteria. Everyone should have a right to hire whoever they want, or for that matter, not hire whoever they want.
Hopefully this new resolution won’t make it anywhere near implementation as I could see a precedent being defined.
July 16th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
The proposal defines abortion as follows: “any of the various procedures — including the prescription, dispensing and administration of any drug or the performance of any procedure or any other action — that results in the termination of the life of a human being in utero between conception and natural birth, whether before or after implantation.”
Before or after implantation? Yep, there goes Plan B; after all, we can’t know there’s no fertilized egg in there. IUDs as well. And there are plenty of health care providers who already get those federal funds and refuse to provide birth control, whether or not the government has helpfully defined it as “abortion”. This is just more chipping away at Griswold as well as Roe.
Seems to me the government shouldn’t be funding organizations that violate rights established by the Supreme Court. Yeah, I know this is supposed to be about “religious freedom”. What’s next? Protecting the right of a public school to hire Aryan Nations teachers who refuse to teach black students?
July 16th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Protecting the right of a public school to hire Aryan Nations teachers who refuse to teach black students?
But Kathy, we must respect their right to follow the dictates of their conscience!
Maybe the Creationism-should-be-taught-as-a-valid-theory crowd can use this as precedent to push their agenda. Why should teachers be discriminated against if they have a MORAL objection to teaching evolution?
July 17th, 2008 at 11:32 am
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