The War Against Women's Reproductive Rights.

The Catholic bishops have raised a big stink about the mandate that all health insurance plans must include contraception benefits. Currently many policies do not and the out of pocket cost of controlling their family size is about $600.00 per year.

Now that may not sound like much, but when wages are decreasing and other costs are climbing, it is a lot. A couple using no birth control has an 85 percent chance of becoming pregnant in one year. The Agriculture Department estimates that on average, middle-income couples spend around $12,500 per year per child.

The solution is actually very simple: 
To eliminate religious organizations objection to pay for birth control, so middle-ages, is to eliminate employer based health insurance.

That means either each individual purchases their own insurance, as they do with life, home and auto insurance and the employer has nothing to do with it. OR you have an expanded Medicare program that eliminates private health insurance as the primary insurer of your health.

As William Kristal stated on the Daily Show, the government run military health system is the best and well run. He also said that the American citizens does not deserve the same high quality, well run health care system, but deserves the private insured less quality, poorly run health care system. Why, because the military personnel place their lives on the line. Well doesn't law enforcement, fire fighters, and so many other critical workers? And why don't we citizens deserve a high quality, well run health care system? (For those who don't know who William Kristal is, he's a ultra-conservative pundit, columnist, and Republican Party activist.)

I do find the very argument about the Catholics and religious freedom a bit archaic. Women have fought hard to raise their level of equality to that of their male counterparts. They have not achieved complete parity yet, but they are getting so much closer.

This religious argument fails on so many levels.

When a religious institution decides to operate an entity, other than their actual  churches, temples, etc., and hire individuals who are not members of that faith or adhere to the same religious prohibitions, then that religious institution must still comply with all mandated policies required of all other employers in the nation. To be carved out is not right to the employees to be discriminated against in such a working environment.

When a religious institution have such a moral objection to the policy, then hire only those who are obedient to that religious tenet, in this case only loyal practicing Catholics. Otherwise, they have voluntarily waived that prohibition withing the facility that they are employing non-members.

I understand that in many urban markets there are more than one employer in a given area that the Catholics are involved with, i.e. Universities, hospitals and schools. But there are small communities that the only hospital is a Catholic owned one. If you are a nurse, doctor or other employee, must you adhere to the religious tenet of your employer, even if they are not yours?

That in its self is forcing a religious theology on non-members of that faith, which is also a violation of the first amendment about free exercise of religion and also not being forced to practice a particular religion. So whose rights are superior to the others. In my mind, when you hire non-members, you waive that right so that you can hire non-members as employees.  An employer is much different than conducting religious services to members.

I do agree that they do provide some very nice services for the poor. But their universities, hospitals and schools are open for all secular individuals to enter as students, employees, and patients. By that act, they have moved into the secular arena to provide some type of service and thus competing with secular entities doing the same thing. If a religious institution gets a waiver of some mandated policy, then they have a competitive advantage in this supposed free market system. They already get an advantage with not having to pay any taxes on the property and income. To add more is not fair to the others.

If our government excludes the Catholics from this mandate in health care for women, you know that every "Christian" employer who objects to contraception coverage will demand the same treatment as the Catholic institutions. That is bad for women and for the country as a whole. There can't be any carve outs!