Religious Freedom or Religious Control

President Obama’s newest proposal to a part of the health care sector has recently caused a lot of tension, debate, and confusion. In his latest idea, President Obama has asked Catholic hospitals and employers to now offer contraceptives in their health care plans for employees. For anyone who may not know, Catholics theology has always been against anything contraceptive. As a result most all employers who are associated with the Catholic Church don’t include the coverage of contraceptives in the policies of their respective employees. The government putting these mandates on these businesses now raises the question of a constitutional infringement of our religious freedom. It also raises a question of religious control by the employers.

                In an article by Kristen Powers on The Daily Beast she points out how the Obama administration and our government have crossed a constitutional line. Religious freedom has always been an important part of the United States from even before the constitution was written. The fact that our government is now trying to put restrictions on how a religious entity goes about its business, and so blatantly against what the Catholic Church believes in is a slap to the face of freedom. I myself am not Catholic, and am not against contraceptives, but the principal of the government telling the Church that they must be liable to provide these people something they believe is wrong makes me cringe.

                Of course in every argument there are two sides, and this is no exception. Some Americans are saying that the Catholic Church is denying people their right to get the treatment they desire under their health care plans. In a CNN article by Jennifer Glass, she explains the hardships of working at Notre Dame University, a Catholic establishment, as a non- Catholic during her childbearing years. Her point of view shows states that it should be the right of citizens to choose their medications, such as contraceptives. The Catholic Church seems to be unrightfully controlling their employees by manipulating their healthcare plans.

                The arguments above suggest two liberties being influenced here, the right to religious freedom, and the right to contraceptives. Last time I checked, there wasn’t anything in the constitution about the second of those. Even if the government complains that the Catholic Church shouldn’t have the right to pick and choose what they cover on health care, they should realize they themselves put the employers in charge of providing health care. If they want to make all kinds of medicine available to everyone they need to change the structure of how we get healthcare, not tell certain groups what they have to provide. This isn’t merely a question of is their enough availability, since nearly every other non-religious provider covers contraceptives. The Church has never denied their employees get contraceptives; they simply do not pay for them, as that would be condoning or supporting something they don’t believe in. So if the government doesn’t like that fact that not everyone has a chance to be covered for a type of medicine they need to change the structure of health insurance, not force religions to go against what they believe.