And, what do I do given Obama’s contraceptive mandate?

My name is John Williams.  I can trace my roots back to my great, great grandfather who came to this country because it offered religious freedom.  I am a devout Catholic. 

I own a small business that employs 51 of the most capable people in the world, as far as I am concerned.  More than employees, they are my friends.  But, I have a problem. 

I have never tried to force my religious beliefs on my employees, nor will I ever.  Religious freedom is why my fore-bearers came to this country.  And yet, President Obama now tells me that the insurance policy I offer to my employees must cover contraceptives and the morning after pill.  My religion and my conscience, however, tell me that I can not do that.

Those on the left tell me that this is about women’s rights.  But what about my rights that stem from the First Amendment to the Constitution?  Do “women’s rights” trump my rights as guaranteed by my Constitution?

I can not comply with this requirement. 

That leaves me with three options.  I can continue to offer insurance to my employees, but without the mandated coverage for contraceptives.  If I do so, I will pay not only my share of my employees’  insurance, but also a penalty of $2000 per employee, or $102,000 a year for my failure to provide a “qualified” plan.  That $102,000 is the bulk of my take home pay from my company, so I can’t afford to do that. 

Or, I can abandon my friends altogether, stop providing any insurance, and pay the government a penalty of the same $102,000 a year.

Or, I can fire 2 employees because, under the law, if I have fewer than 50 employees, I do not have to provide a “qualified” plan covering contraceptives.

Here is what I don’t understand.  The First Amendment to our Constitution guarantees that I will never have to make this decision.  So, why do I have to make it?

And, more to the point why does “separation of church and state” mean that my town can’t have a Nativity scene in its courtyard, or that there can’t be prayer in schools, but it doesn’t mean that, as a Catholic, I can’t refuse to pay for contraceptives without paying a monetary penalty to the state for failing to do so?

 

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SoundOffSister

The Sound Off Sister was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and special trial attorney for the Department of Justice, Criminal Division; a partner in the Florida law firm of Shutts & Bowen, and an adjunct professor at the University of Miami, School of Law. The Sound Off Sister offers frequent commentary concerning legislation making its way through Congress, including the health reform legislation passed in early 2010.

23 Comments

  1. PatRiot on February 11, 2012 at 8:01 pm

    The day has come when both?knowledge and ignorance of the law are no defense.?

    Kerry Packer* once noted, ‘Every time you pass a law you take someone’s privilege away from them’.??? * The House of Representatives Select Committee on Print Media, Nov 4, 1991



    • JBS on February 15, 2012 at 9:11 am

      The word “mandate” tells it all. Socialism has no God, the aims of socialism are absolute power over every aspect of the people who fall under its aegis.
      Power corrupts.



  2. ricbee on February 11, 2012 at 10:30 pm

    This case is a little too pat to be true,but there are probably some that will fit it.
    ?I am so glad I’m old & don’t have to deal with the workaday world anymore. I will write this tho,”when they come for me or mine I will fight to my last breath”,& die happy. I missed my chance to die for my country in Nam,but will continue to fight for it with my pen & my sword.



  3. crystal4 on February 12, 2012 at 6:26 am

    “My name is John Smith, I am a Jehovah’s witness. My religion and my conscience tell me that I cannot pay for any insurance that covers blood transfusions, including any surgeries that would require such…”
    “My name is John Jones. I am a? I am a Christian Scientist. My religion and conscious tell me that I cannot pay for any insurance that cover mental health treatments or any drugs involved in these treatments…..”
    Ridiculous?? No..and now Sen Roy Blunt (R MI) is introducing a bill ?that would permit any employer or insurance plan to exclude any health service, NO MATTER HOW ESSENTIAL, from coverage if they morally object to it”
    Can of worms.
    My take? The righties are shooting themselves in the foot. The stage is now ripe for the introduction of single payer or medi-care for all.



    • Steve M on February 12, 2012 at 8:41 am

      Don’t you get it? Get the federal government out of the health care insurance mandate business and these issues are solved for Christians, Jehovah’s Witness, Christian Scientists and Catholics. But you’re one of those people who think true rights do not exist?simultaneously?between people. But they do, and the exercise of one’s rights can not diminish the rights of another.



    • Dimsdale on February 12, 2012 at 10:36 am

      Conversely, ?bamacare will force everyone to pay for any health care service, NO MATTER HOW TRIVIAL, because they secularly require it.
      ?
      Hypochondriacs will be having a field day!? Costs will spiral.? Let the patchwork of remedial legislation begin.



    • crystal4 on February 12, 2012 at 3:37 pm

      What? I seem to be the only one here who believes in equal rights!!! And believe that no one has the right to inpose one’s religious beliefs on another. YOU don’t get it.
      The law regarding health care for employees has been there, how long?????? And HOW many states have had this mandate? And it’s an issue NOW??? Phony as phony can be.
      ?



    • SoundOffSister on February 12, 2012 at 7:49 pm

      Crystal,
      You have bought into the talking points, and I thought you were smarter than that.? First, there was no law requiring employers to provide insurance to their employees…at least not until Obamacare.
      Second, “equal rights”? ? We have equal rights, but when did contraceptives become a “right”?? Is Viagra a “right”, or did I miss that section of the Constitution?
      And third, the Catholic Church in general, and Catholics in particular are not imposing anything .? Contraceptives have been available for years, and I have yet to see a Catholic throw themself on the pharmacy counter to prevent someone from purchasing contraceptives.
      Think.?
      Because if you don’t see the intrusion on our liberty by this, when your liberty is imposed upon, there may be no one left to help you.



    • azn_chic on February 13, 2012 at 9:43 am

      Right on Steve! When the government mandates we buy health insurance, our freedom is lost. We do not have the right to choose no matter what religious view we hold. It’s actually not about religion or birth control. It’s about our rights to live freely!?



  4. Mommahan on February 12, 2012 at 8:42 am

    I have been paying for my own BC pills for years. Sometimes I pay a lot (as much as 50 bucks a pack) and sometimes I pay a little (10 per pack with good insurance.) Under the mandate, I will still not be getting “Free” pills. I will pay and you all will pay with higher premiums. The whole mandate is wrong in the first place but it is especially horrible to infringe on someone’s beliefs. I hate when they say it is about Reproductive rights and women’s health. If you need to be on the pill, it is available. A woman who works for a Catholic employer or any other employer?can just go over to Planned Parenthood, especially since they are once again getting a ton of money from the Komen foundation. If this thing is not corrected, I will totally join the people of faith and protest with them. This is March On Washington important.



  5. kateinmaine on February 12, 2012 at 12:56 pm

    if what you do in the bedroom (or bedroom facsimile) is personal and private, so are the associated costs of unintended, but known consequences.? this can also be applied to health choices–diet, exercise, regular dentistry, other social behaviors (alcohol/drugs/tobacco) and anything else you’d like to plug in.? i’m happy to pay for mine–and if i can’t afford it, i won’t put myself in a position to have to.? why should i pay for yours?? will you be as responsible as i am in making the determination?? government involvement in socialized insurance and medicine is essentially mandating reckless and irresponsible behaviors.? why should anyone be surprised?
    ?



  6. Lynn on February 12, 2012 at 1:05 pm

    We need free market competition in purchasing Health Insurance Policies, without ANY mandates. Most important is to sell across state lines. Companies would specialize by offering policies that would specialize in different risk categories. It already happens in CT to some extant. Co A offers the best coverage for women of child bearing age and her family, Co B offers best deal for single men aged 19 -27, Co. C best policies for women aged 48 – 65, Co D best policy for owners of small businesses & their families.
    ?
    Also portibility meaning policies bought could be moved around from one state to another and one job to another. Surprise, surprise both of these ideas were offered by knowledgeable Republicans in Congress and not even discussed. The biggest insult to any of us who sold health insurance, is that Obamacare effectively “kills” Health Savings Accounts. IMHO, Obamacare not only violates the Constitution, it is unethical and immoral by making health insurance so unaffordable everyone will pay penalties instead of insurance. President Obama is lucky we call it Obamacare, the original title of this program is “Affordable Healthcare”, LOL



  7. Plainvillian on February 12, 2012 at 6:11 pm

    If the government can mandate that we only purchase qualified health insurance policies that include contraception coverage, can they then not mandate the use of contraception?? If the government can mandate the use of contraception, how much of a leap is it to a mandated one child or even no child per household policy with mandated abortions when contraception fails?? Didn’t the Chinese do this with terrible unintended consequences that now threaten China’s future?
    This is not a Catholic issue, a women’s health issue or even a birth control issue.? This is a constitutional issue.? We need regime change.



  8. crystal4 on February 13, 2012 at 10:28 am

    SOS, the Catholic hospitals and schools are secular institutions, bottom line. If they take federal money, they have to abide by the same laws as any other “business”.
    You can get a post-partum tubal ligation at a catholic hospital. Why, they sure aren’t going to pass up the maternity business and the chance to collect that money from the insurance companies.
    More than happy to charge insurance companies, but want to deny their employees the coverage for women’s health needs…
    No offense SOS but so obvious that this is a rightie ginned up issue for a presidential election year.
    ?
    ?
    ?



    • Tim-in-Alabama on February 13, 2012 at 10:44 am

      Heil Hitler!



    • Dimsdale on February 13, 2012 at 11:10 am

      Maybe it is a lefty “ginned up” issue to distract from the economy, Fast and Furious, the economy, stupid EPA regulations, the economy, the Keystone XL pipeline, the economy, GITMO, the economy, the deficit/national debt, the economy, high unemployment, the economy, more bank regulations to deregulate who gets loans and refis, the economy, ? making a lie out of his SuperPak campaign promises, the economy, “transparency”, the economy, ?’s lousy approval numbers, the economy etc.
      ?
      Did I mention the economy?? 😉



    • NH-Jim on February 13, 2012 at 11:30 am

      “Hee-heee”? “The Economy…..Hee-heeee”, says the college kid.? “why worry about that, I’m to busy getting la%$#d.?? Hee-heee”



    • Lynn on February 14, 2012 at 8:21 am

      NOT ONCE!



  9. NH-Jim on February 13, 2012 at 11:27 am

    Whatever happened to my elders’ old adage:
    “Keep your knees together, ladies.? And, keep your wicks dry, gentlemen.”
    ?
    Well, if not, travel to your nearest vending machine.



  10. sammy22 on February 13, 2012 at 3:09 pm

    The people who cannot have enough of this issue are in the political Right. There are 18 comments on this thread alone.



    • GdavidH on February 13, 2012 at 5:37 pm

      Because it is important.

      ?



    • GdavidH on February 13, 2012 at 5:45 pm

      Unlike this stupidity!
      http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2012/02/13/news/doc4f38f2fc95917048311197.txt

      “The coalition plans to call attention to the need to provide adequate funding and administrative support for child nutrition programs and nutrition professionals in schools.?”

      Nutrition professionals?????????



    • Dimsdale on February 13, 2012 at 9:11 pm

      It wouldn’t be an issue if ?bama didn’t insist on distracting people from his other failures.
      ?
      The press is consumed with the Whitney Houston death.



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