Birth Control is “the
practice of preventing unwanted pregnancies, typically by use of contraception”
(Google). Birth control has become a
trending topic in the last few months.
With the Supreme Court ruling that small non corporate businesses do not
have to provide birth control that is known to cause abortions, if it opposes
their beliefs. Then, the State of California overruled
this decision on Friday August 22, 2014, saying that any business or college
must provide and pay for birth control for any of their employees, no matter
their religious affiliation.
The Hobby Lobby
case started back in September 2012 and went to the Supreme Court a year later
and finally ended in June of 2014. The
Court stated “our
responsibility is to enforce RFRA as written, and under the standard that RFRA
prescribes, the HHS contraceptive mandate is unlawful.”[1] The Religious Freedom Restoration
Act (RFRA) of the First Amendment is what led Hobby Lobby to their five to four
victory. The United States believes in freedom
of religion and you should not be mandated to provide benefits that are
prohibited by your religious beliefs.
After the verdict of the Supreme Court, Hobby Lobby released this
statement saying, “The Court’s decision is a victory, not just for our family
business, but for all who seek to live out their faith. We are grateful to God
and to those who have supported us on this difficult journey.”
Recently, California
Governor Jerry Brown ordered two exempted Roman Catholic University’s to
provide full contraceptives and unregulated abortion coverage to their
employees against their moral beliefs.
Keep in mind the Governor Brown was born and raised Catholic, spending
three years in the seminary (education for Catholic priests), and was married
in the Catholic Church in 2005. So why
does Jerry Brown single out the Catholic University’s that were considered
exempt under Federal HHS mandates? Why
does he feel these religious organizations should pay for abortions and birth
control when it is against their moral teachings? The answer to this question is the
reproductive privacy act which passed in 2003.
This act “guarantees a woman’s right to both terminate a pregnancy and
to birth control.”[2] With California
ignoring what the Supreme Court ruled on back in June, just goes to show how
our society is attached to abortion.
This controversy “serves as a very poignant reminder of the fact that
religious liberty requires essential and continual vigilance. And, though this
particular policy refers to two Catholic institutions in California, this news should serve as ample
warning to evangelical Christian institutions that we could be next on the
line. That the protection that was now denied to these two Roman Catholic
institutions can just as quickly, and just as arbitrarily, be denied to
evangelical colleges and universities as well.”[3]
Growing up in the
Roman Catholic Church and attending Catholic
School for nine years,
has deeply rooted me in Catholicism.
“The official teaching of the Catholic Church does state that artificial
(condoms, diaphragms, intrauterine devices) and chemical (the
"pill", foams, gels) forms of birth control are always morally wrong.
The Catholic Church only approves of natural forms of artificial birth
control, the best-known and most effective of which is The Natural Family
Planning Method (NFP).”[4] I do not just believe birth control is wrong,
because that is what they ingrained in me.
I believe it is wrong because what they have taught me about God and the
bible. So, I believe that any company or
university should not be obligated to pay for birth control or abortions if it
is against their religious beliefs.
