Recently the Supreme Court decided that the government can not force for-profit companies like Hobby Lobby to provide contraceptive insurance for their employees. While this decision is a step in the right direction, it isn’t enough. Liberals, however, disagree. They say this decision has gone too far. To liberals, this is all a part of some conservative war on women. On the other hand, conservatives claim liberals are waging a war on women. So who is waging the war on women?
While American Catholic Solidarity, true to its Catholic roots, is neither conservative, nor liberal, we tend to lean conservative. Indeed, Catholicism itself tends to lean conservative. We recognize, however, that neither conservatives, nor liberals, are protected from error. This trait belongs solely to the Catholic Church. So, when asked if we are conservative or liberal, I would prefer our members answer, “We are Catholic.” Having said all this, allow me to explain why, on the issue of the HHS Mandate on contraceptives, the liberals are actually the ones waging the war on wroth women and religious freedom.
Liberals tend to support contraceptives because they have a distorted view of the human person. They believe that women should be free to pursue a career, should they desire to do so. I have no problem with women pursuing a career. Yet, as liberals rightly recognize, the birth of a child brings a new set of responsibilities. The care of the child must come first, and liberal women just won’t have this. They wish to focus on themselves and their careers. They are driven by selfishness.
Most liberal women do not want to give birth, and then give the child up for adoption. Their excuse is the rough life children often lead when placed in orphanages and foster homes. It seem to occur to these women to try and better the adoption system. Instead, for liberal women, it is easier to simply avoid conception.
Another solution would be abstinence. Liberals don’t like this option. The sexual capabilities of a woman are her own, right? So if a woman wants to have sex without the responsibilities and consequences that come along with it, then why shouldn’t she be able to do so? Doesn’t a woman have the right to do with her body as she pleases?
This is an ignorant and irresponsible view. For one, the contraceptives can only really prevent one of the consequences of sex. They can not erase the emotional and physical consequences. Secondly, while contraceptives may prevent conception, they actually increase the risk of STDs. It is a fact that contraceptives tend to encourage promiscuity, and this leads to an increased risk in becoming infected with an STD. Let us also not forget that God gave us our sexual capacity primarily for procreation. Contraceptives distorts the sex act by placing pleasure above procreation.
In regards to the Hobby Lobby case, I have repeatedly heard liberal women lamenting the fact that corporations are not people, under the law. Corporations themselves are not people, but they consist of people. Individuals are required to make a corporation. These individuals have personal beliefs that can not always be separated from the business realm. Actually, religious and ethical beliefs – or the lack thereof – will always effect how one conducts business. The people who own or run a corporation have the right to run it according to their beliefs. If there are minority stock holders who disagree with the beliefs of the majority stock holder, they can simply take their investment elsewhere. No one forced them to invest, and they are not forced to continue investing.
This brings me to my next point. Those women employed by companies like Hobby Lobby, are not being forced to work there. No one made them work there. They may have taken or kept their job there because they could find no other, but that does not give them the right to try and force the owners to go against their consciences. Women can argue they have the right to contraceptives all they want. They also have the right and ability to search for another job. Hobby Lobby – and all companies like it-the right to follow their conscience (which is the conscience ofthe owner, or majority stock holder), so llong as this does not infringe on the more essential rights of another.
In this case, Hobby Lobby is not infringing on anyone’s rights. If their female employees want contraceptives, they can buy them over the counter. “These aren’t always as effective, and I can’t afford the medical procedures required for the others.”
My response to this is, “Welcome to life.”
Life is tough, and we don’t always see it as fair. Sometimes I struggle to pay even the most basic bills. Does that give me or my wife to force our employer to pay our bills, or give us a raise? We knew our pay rate wouldn’t be great when we took our jobs. We knew we would struggle. Yet, we needed employment. Maybe we deserve more pay, but we knew what we were getting into before we accepted our jobs.
So it is with the female employees of Hobby Lobby. They knew Hobby Lobby’s stance on contraceptives before they were employed there. Even if they hadn’t, the information was there. Hobby Lobby made no attempt to hide their stance.
When you work for any company, they expect you to carry yourself accordingly. Even during your free time, you represent your employer. Those who know you work there may associate the company with you, and anything you do. If you conduct yourself in such a way that the company feels you are poorly representing them, they have the legal right to fire you. We saw this in the case of the former president of Ohio State University when he insulted Catholics. Ohio State asked him to resign, because they did not want to be affiliated with anti-Catholic bigotry.
It would appear, then, that liberals are the ones waging the war. They are waging a war on freedom of religion. Freedom of religion is synonymous with freedom of conscience. This means liberals are waging a war on freedom of conscience! Oh, they have no problem with people exercising their conscience, as long as their conscience is a liberal one! They do not care that many Christian business owners have major issues with providing their employees with insurance that allows them to do something the owner believes is immoral. This would directly reflect on the company itself. This is why companies (whether for-profit, or not) should not have to provide contraceptive insurance.
Liberals are also waging a war on women. They view children as a burden. They provide an unwanted responsibility, and could hinder their career advancement. Well, don’t have sex! Learn some self-control. God created sex for unity of the spouses and pleasure, but these are only secondary. Procreation is the main reason for sex.
This does not mean a child must be conceived in every sex act. Nor do I mean to say that infertile couples, or couples who use NFP for grave reasons, are somehow offending God, or should not marry. All I mean to say is that God placed procreation in the place of prime importance in sex. We should not use artificial means to prevent it.
To insinuate that women who do not support contraceptives are somehow working against their sex-as liberals do-is wrong. Women who oppose forcing companies to provide contraceptive insurance for their employees are not opposing the freedom of women. They are supporting a Christian, moral, responsible way of living. They understand that those who want contraceptives can purchase them at their local pharmacy. Catholic women understand that God opposes artificial contraceptives. True freedom lies in doing the will of God. That is why He placed us here. It is clearly the liberals who are waging the war on women, and freedom!
Peace in Christ,
David J. Pollard
President
American Catholic Solidarity