WAYT: Shhh

What is it about this women’s contraception debate that is making everyone so angry?  I cannot for the life of me understand why the public is so up in arms over this.  Maybe it’s because everyone wants to be loud.  I’d like to talk about it quietly.  Here’s how I see it.    

Religious organizations have the right to their beliefs; indeed, they exist because of their beliefs.  The employees of those organizations have a right to their beliefs, unless the religious group requires otherwise.  If it is part of the religious group’s benefits package to give insurance to their employees, that is the contract.  The group owes it to the employee to provide the insurance because they said they would.  If the religious organization has a philosophical objection to the components of the insurance plan, then they should not offer the insurance. 

If the employee cannot abide by the beliefs of the religious group in order to accept the insurance coverage, then the employee either should not work for the group or the employee should find other insurance. 

What do you think?  Do you think that makes sense?

I fully understand that now it’s not that simple.  If the group doesn’t want to provide the objectionable insurance, it will soon have to pay a penalty.  Is that discriminatory against their beliefs – to be monetarily penalized for having a religious objection to the insurance plan?  Maybe.  I know enough constitutional law to see a conflict there. 

Also for the employees, it’s not that simple.  Everyone will soon be required to have insurance.  Employees might have to pay more out in the open market than they would pay to receive the benefit from the group that employs them.  That’s not right either. 

Are the beliefs greater than providing healthcare, and should you have to choose? 

I understand that some people are patently against contraception for women.  I personally can never agree with that.  You can feel that way, but that’s where we differ and I’m going to take the fork in the road.  See you later. 

In all instances, ALL instances, I believe that every single person has the right to their own choices and beliefs.  It does not have to be as complicated as the news media and the Senators and Congress people want you to believe!  Our leaders need to chill out and talk about it behind closed doors.  Stop yelling at one another from on high.  Draw a simple flow chart and find a way through the mess, then report back to us later. 

I can tell you that in my personal life, health insurance has saved me.  If I had been forced to bear the costs of my health issues out-of-pocket, I would be in bankruptcy or I’d be in jail for attempting to rob a bank.  The various health policies that I’ve held have allowed me to make choices and maintain my health while striking a fair balance between what I do and don’t pay for. 

I am sensitive to the groups who don’t want to provide certain services because of their beliefs.  I’m Catholic, after all.  My choice of church is one hundred percent something I came to on my own later in life, and that was my right.  But my mother-in-law once told me that I don’t have to believe everything they tell me because it’s what’s in my heart that matters most.  So I don’t abide by or agree with every single thing the church tells me.  Maybe that makes me eighty nine percent Catholic and puts me outside of the norm.  Maybe that’s why I feel the way I do about this contraception issue.  Maybe the church would rather not have me claim them!

But I’m certain that in this debate, being flexible is the only thing that will work.  You can’t please all of the people all of the time.  Others will take the fork in the road with me, while others will stay their course.  The common denominator is that we all have to agree that our choices to diverge are fair because we are who we are and we can’t change our essential make-ups. 

In the spirit of considering both sides, then, please consider this: many people are opposed to abortion.  Probably more people are against it than are for it.  But who is crying out against the opposite?  I’m thinking of that woman everyone called “Octomom.”  She sought medical assistance to produce all of her babies and ended up with fourteen.  Is there not something to be said for falling in the middle, and letting that be okay?