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Sunday, July 27, 2014
How Your Boss' Religion Affects You
The nine folks above, along with special corporate interests, control this country. Didn't vote for them and they have a life long seat in government? That's the deal with the Supreme Court. They are nominated, when a seat opens through death or retirement, by the President and then confirmed by the Senate. If you read the US Constitution and letters of the founding fathers (like Thomas Jefferson), you'll find that the original intent of the Court was that of "original jurisdiction"--which cases would be heard where.1 It was not until Marbury vs Madison that the Court essentially seized the power of judicial review--to say whether a law was Constitutional or not. Thomas Jefferson, by the way, was horrified by this case.2
Corporate owners may or may not share their religion with you. In fact, you probably have no idea what religion your boss espouses or, if you do, you really don't care or maybe you share it by chance. But, certainly you don't take your boss with you on your doctor's appointment (unless your married to him/her, perhaps). But it seems five members of the Court (all men, BTW) think your boss' religion should influence your health care.
The recent Hobby Lobby case opened the flood gates to health care denial for women. Not only that, these men have decided they are the arbiters of women's contraception. A day after the Hobby Lobby ruling, the Court ordered "...lower courts to rehear any cases where companies had sought to deny coverage for any type of contraception, not just the specific types Hobby Lobby was opposed to."3
Contraceptives such as the birth control pill, while certainly used to prevent pregnancies, are more often used for a range of health care issues, from irregular menstrual cycles and pain to endometriosis. Studies show that 58% of women use contraceptives for non-pregnancy issues. Yet these men of the Court, while discussing the case, kept questioning and commenting as if they knew nothing about the medical side of these products. Amazingly, they really didn't know anything and yet are allowed to vote on a case affecting a huge majority of the US workforce!
What do these men have against women? Is it their catholic religious foundation, their misogyny, their corporate ties (they belong to the same clubs, I imagine), or simple lack of medical understanding? And, if catholic-owned businesses can deny specific health care to a specific part of the labor force, won't we expect to see a Muslim-owned company deny health care totally to just women and even implement "Sharia" law into the workplace? As Bader-Ginsburg wrote in her dissent, "Approving some religious claims while deeming others unworthy of accommodation could be 'perceived as favoring one religion over another,' the very 'risk the [Constitution's] Establishment Clause was designed to preclude."
Sources:
1. US Constitution, http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articleiii
2. Marbury vs Madison, http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/democracy/landmark_marbury.html
3. http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/07/supreme-court-scotus-hobby-lobby-all-forms-contraception
4. http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/06/best-lines-hobby-lobby-decision
Labels:
bader-ginsburg,
contraceptives,
corporations,
health care,
marbury,
medical,
religion,
supreme court
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