Yesterday I was stricken with some mysterious fatigue. Probably it was my body’s intuition that the SCOTUS had done another horrible fuckass thing and I should just make a point to stay in bed and not try to join in the human race yesterday. But tiredness isn’t a clear enough language so I got up anyway, read the news, and then decided to go back to bed.
So that’s basically why I didn’t post yesterday.
But here are some thoughts I have after having read and maybe participated in discussions/debates on the topic on various friend’s Facebook pages. (Sorry, various friends. I really tried to limit myself as much as possible.)
1. People kept saying, “But people can CHOOSE not to work for these corporations!”
I think the people who said this are probably simply innocent and merely lacking the facts here. Obviously they have slept through the last 15 or so years and entirely missed the economic news. We should speak quietly and get them some coffee. Once they catch up, they’ll understand that people can’t just pick and choose which jobs they want. This isn’t the 1950’s anymore. Shit’s fucked, you guys. People stay unemployed for months and months or even years and then when they finally get a job they are gonna take it and not even care if birth control is covered because at that point the fact that they will be able to buy frivolous items such as “food” will take precedence. Anyone who says people should just work for those corporations that hold their own personal views (and by “personal views” I mean “provides basic human rights such as health care”) simply have no clue what the world actually is like. And good for them, I guess. Either they slept for the last decade and a half or they live in their own little protective bubble (or they don’t, but they hold views that go against their own personal lifestyle), but they just have no clue. Here’s a tip: grow some empathy. Think outside of your own brain for a moment and try to imagine how it is for people less privileged than you are.
2. People kept saying, “The government can’t just step in and tell a private corporation what to do!”
Except. That last I checked, the government enforces rules about making a job safe and possible for people with disabilities. And the government has rules set in place which don’t allow private companies to discriminate against people of other races, genders, or sexual orientations. So, dudes? The government does, in fact, butt in when it comes to protecting those who need it. You know. Except women.
3. People kept saying, “Birth control isn’t a basic human right!”
Well, aside from the whole Catch-22 attitude wherein women are forced to not have birth control, not have abortions, not have health care to support them through their pregnancies, and not have financial help for a child they weren’t ready for. I don’t know if that kind of birth control is a basic human right, but I’m willing to argue that sex is.
The bottom line here is that their science is bad. At BEST they grossly misunderstand how these contraceptives work. Preventing an ovary from releasing an egg is not, in fact, the same thing as abortion by any means. The fact that the Supreme Court backed up this pseudoscience bullshit is, at the very minimum, absolutely terrifying.
3a. Someone even said, “Health care is a privilege, not a right! People should make the choice to find a job that provides them health care!”
This is the part of the day where I just zoomed right off the plane, way out into outer space. Because if health care is a privilege you are LITERALLY saying that only rich people should be able to be healthy. You are, IN ACTUALITY, saying that poor people should just all die. I mean. You didn’t even bother to pretend very hard that you don’t feel that way. You very clearly feel that way. And you know who very clearly did not feel that way? JESUS.
3b. People kept saying, “But Hobby Lobby is still providing most birth control, just not these ones they don’t believe in!”
But you know what? That doesn’t mean they aren’t blocking birth control. Cause they are. It may not be every kind of birth control, but some women need specific kinds which may be one of those banned. What it comes down to is that a woman and her DOCTOR, not her EMPLOYER, should be the ones to decide what contraceptive a woman needs.
4. People kept saying, “But these forms of birth control cause abortions!”
OK. Let’s talk about the morning after pill. That form of birth control does NOT end a pregnancy. It inhibits ovulation just like regular birth control pills do. Without ovulation, there is no pregnancy. It ONLY works if the woman takes it before she’s ovulated, otherwise it’s useless. The pill RU486 is the pill you are probably confusing the morning after pill with. RU486 is a pill that causes an abortion. But it is called a medical abortion, not a birth control pill.
Doctors have created a distinction between abortifacients and contraceptives. Contraceptives do not end a pregnancy – they prevent one. There is a distinction. And it’s a distinction that seems to be grossly misunderstood by the majority of people who claim to support Hobby Lobby, and in this case, the SCOTUS upheld this bad science which is fucking terrifying.
So. You made Jesus cry. And you made the rest of us turn into rocket ships in our rage. Hope you’re happy.
(I was going to draw you a picture of me, as a rocket, leaving the planet, but I’m bad at drawing and all my rockets just looked like dicks which, I think, is against the spirit of this post. Next time I leave the planet I’m leaving in a vulva-shaped ship.)
But here are the facts: This law doesn’t protect corporations from having to provide other medical care that they feel is against their religion. Companies run by Jehovah’s Witnesses are still forced to provide blood transfusions, Christian Scientists are still required to provide for vaccinations. If this was actually about protecting religion, this would cover all medical-related things that all religions avoid. But it doesn’t. Because it’s not about religion.
This law also continues to provide for such medically unnecessary things such as Viagra or a penis pump. It is literally only the things that apply to women that are included in this. Go ahead. Tell me how we don’t need feminism. Tell me how this isn’t misogynistic. Go ahead and tell me how women receive equal rights. Say it. I dare you. This is nothing but means to control women. Why the hell else would someone ever care what I do with my own body?
YES. I’m so frustrated that this happened yesterday, and I’m further frustrated by the defenses I’ve seen on FaceBook.
I’m frustrated at the people who keep saying “I shouldn’t have to even have coverage for pregnancy or birth control because I’m post-menopausal and can’t get pregnant”. That’s what insurance is. You are paying for coverage you hope you never need. I certainly hope my family doesn’t collect on my life insurance policy and that I’ve paid for it all in vain.
I’m frustrated that some women are exasperated that they need certain treatments for reasons other than birth control (not that the reason should matter. I posted this yesterday on a friend’s thread when people were saying “there are 12 other types of birth control available still”:
Doctor/patient relationships are privacy protected. There can be a number of reasons a doctor may or may not prescribe a specific medication or treatment. Nobody should have to justify that to their employer. A lifesaving blood transfusion shouldn’t be denied coverage because the employer is Jehovah’s Witness. A person requiring heart valve treatment with porcine valve tissue shouldn’t be denied treatment because the patient’s employer is Muslim. This is NO different. People just think it is because sex is involved.
I also posted that I’d like to see what would happen if viagra were denied coverage to men who aren’t married…because sex outside of marriage isn’t allowed either, right? How would that go over?
I’m frustrated that some people aren’t seeing this as a step backward for women. People disappoint me. And I love Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s response about the “startling breadth”. Scary precedent, SCOTUS….
I want this on a T-shirt: “You made Jesus cry. And you made the rest of us turn into rocket ships in our rage. Hope you’re happy.”
I just can’t fathom why we have to (still) argue about these kinds of things. I feel like we haven’t made any progress civilly . . . I was trying to decide on a certain number of years, but can’t. I just feel like this should be a given. “Oh, you want basic human rights? Sure thing! I’m sorry we were idiots and didn’t do it sooner.” :\
Everything, everything you said. And that’s all I can say, because I’m still so angry and freaked-out that I have no more words, just a sort of unending, furious scream,
No one took bcp’s away from women. HL has offered insurance for bcp’s prior to Obamacare and will continue to offer insurance for bcp’s. They had an issue with the morning-after pill and pills like it.
Stopping pregnancy before it happens – okay.
Stopping the baby after it’s conceived – not okay.
There are 4 (four) pills they will not cover. Last time I checked, HL wasn’t in the medications business so in no way will this keep women (even those who work there – gasp!) from still obtaining those FOUR meds from their doc (not HL) or their pharmacist (again, not HL).
In summary, any woman can still receive the same Morning After pill in the same way they would have yesterday, but if they work for HL and have HL offered health insurance, they will have to pay for it.
Ladies – feel free to get off this imaginary soap box and go have all the sex you’d like. Condom-free, even, (if you’re feeling super-craycray) but don’t expect HL to cover the Morning After pill if you get pregnant from your choices.
Okay. First of all, they ARE keeping birth control from women. They may not be keeping every form of birth control from women, but they are keeping birth control from women. Some women may need a specific kind of birth control – such as the copper IUD – and if that is not covered by their insurance, then it is not necessarily available to them. some of these forms of birth control – again, such as the copper IUD – are very expensive to buy without insurance. Women may not be able to afford it.
But let’s talk about the morning after pill. That form of birth control does NOT end a pregnancy. It inhibits ovulation just like regular birth control pills do. Without ovulation, there is no pregnancy. It ONLY works if the woman takes it before she’s ovulated, otherwise it’s useless. The pill RU486 is the pill you are probably confusing the morning after pill with. RU486 is a pill that causes an abortion. But it is called a medical abortion, not a birth control pill.
Doctors have created a distinction between abortifacients and contraceptives. Contraceptives do not even a pregnancy – they prevent one. There is a distinction. And it’s a distinction that seems to be grossly misunderstood by the majority of people who claim to be against them, and in this case, the SCOTUS upheld this bad science which is fucking terrifying.
But the bottom line is that this has set a precedent. Now other companies can (and are in the process of) asking for MORE exemptions based on this. It can potentially mean that more and more vital health services won’t be covered. A precedent set by the US SCOTUS is a MAJOR deal that must not be brushed off as irrelevant.
Lastly, I’d like to say that you use some slut-shaming tactics there in your post and I don’t endorse such ideas. I have known married women whose other birth control failed to seek the morning after pill. You don’t know why someone might need such a thing and, frankly, it it not any of your business.