Lindsey Graham may not care much about gun deaths, but he proudly calls himself a "pro-life Senator." Where he takes his stand is right smack inside of a woman's body, where he can celebrate all his religious freedoms.
I made the mistake of adding my name to an email petition regarding a woman's right to contraceptive access and the providers' obligation to, well, do their jobs. I try to avoid this because what happens is I get back, by snail mail, on the taxpayer's dime (more like a dollar given the classy stationery and the cost of stamps), a form letter carefully tailored to say, "I don't agree, I am right, but please always feel free to contact me."
Often I don't bother to open the letter; I can tell you what they all say. But I had just gotten the same old from Nikki Haley, on even more expensive letterhead, and I thought I'd start a collection.
So what we are struggling against these days, is no longer just the right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy (or, as Lindsey might say, "Kill an unborn baby"). These days we are watching our President attempt to move us back to the 20th century, back before President W invented (probably has his science advisers invent) the "conscience clause."
This is one of those right-wing freedoms that started off with the Catholic church, those bastions of morality, all men, who believe that a woman's job is to submit to her husband. Having no wife, and supposing not to have sex, the Pope and his underlings have nonetheless become the go-to guys when our Congressional leaders need testimony on women's reproductive systems.
Now I think the issue of whether or not an unmarried man should have any say in what happens to a woman, reproductively speaking, is absurd, but let's not dwell on that.
More important is the fact that religious groups enjoy (and I do mean enjoy) tax exempt status and despite their wealth are considered non-profit organizations. As such they freeload off taxpayers, are allowed to receive government grants, and then dictate terms that fly right in the face of the Constitution.
Remember the Constitution? All those right-wingers carry a copy of it on their person, I think to protect them from stray bullets when they are out wielding their weapons around town.
I believe that the louder someone talks about "freedom" these days, the more likely they are to dismiss the concept of "equality." And this is what is wrong with the Catholic church, small businesses, pharmacists, the US Congress AND legislatures like that of our very own state of South Carolina.
You don't get to move the line. If we've got a law -- if the Supremes have said abortion is legal -- you don't get to decide you don't want to do it. If you provide insurance coverage, you don't get to decide you don't agree with a certain procedure. If you operate a pharmacy, you are obligated to do your job, which is not to make moral judgments.
Imagine where this "conscience" silliness can lead. In fact, you don't have to imagine from whence it came.
A hotel manager could decide his morals were compromised by allowing a couple of mixed race to have a room.
An obstetrician may refuse to care for a pregnant and unmarried teen.
A restaurateur would be free to turn away a gay couple.
And here's one that hasn't happened yet: a pharmacist could decide not to prescribe erectile dysfunction drugs.
Which might, in fact, be a good thing. Because on a religious level, one could say that if God wanted a man to have sex he'd have given him that erection. And for another matter, the day this happens we will have a whole new ballgame.
No comments:
Post a Comment