Kittymomma's Adventures

This blog primarily concerns my personal life, particularly my journey through grief after losing Lucy and having a missed miscarriage and a D&C three months later. However, I am going to put in my two cents about Hobby Lobby and the Supreme Court’s decision anyway.

This is going to be short and not terribly in-depth. I only have about an hour till I pick Max up. Contrary to what some may think, I actually make it a point to read material written by the opposing side on issues. I do not want to live in a partisan echo chamber or be brainwashed by anyone. Here are the five most common arguments in favor of SCOTUS’s decision that I have seen.

1. If you want birth control, you should pay for it yourself, instead of expecting someone else to do it for you. No one is saying you can’t have it.

I agree with the basic principle. If you want something, you should pay for it yourself. However, no one is telling men they have to pay for their Viagra or their vasectomies. Either everyone has to pay for their own medicine or no one. You can’t target medicines so specific to gender. IT IS SEXIST.

2. This is a victory for religious freedom. There is a war on Christians.

Um, no. Christians are in incredible positions of power. It is still the predominant religion in this country. Religion has no place in government or business. I don’t care if it’s Christians, Muslims, Jews, or Hindus – none of them have the right to use their religion to dictate others’ lives. I don’t care who is doing it. Lately, it seems to be the extreme Christians who are doing it. So, if you feel like people hate you or are targeting Christians, well, you brought it on yourselves. If you don’t want to use birth control or have abortions, you don’t have to. You don’t have the right to stop other people based on your religious beliefs that they don’t share. They are your beliefs, not facts.

3. Hobby Lobby is a Christian business with sincerely held religious beliefs.

Businesses aren’t people and can’t hold beliefs. Plus, they covered the birth control they just sued not to cover until it became required by the Affordable Care Act. Their 401K plan also invested heavily in the very companies that make the products they sued to avoid at the time they filed their complaint. They aren’t fighting for religious freedom – it’s about politics. They are hypocrites.

4. They shouldn’t have to cover pills that cause abortions.

They don’t have to. An abortion is the termination of an already existing pregnancy. Some of these pills prevent implantation of a fertilized egg. They do not end an existing pregnancy. Mother Nature stops fertilized eggs from implanting all the time. Are you going to find a way to stop her, too?

5. If you don’t want to be pregnant, change your behavior.

Again, I agree with the basic principle. However, shit happens. People make mistakes, women are raped, birth control fails. Oh, and there is the tiny fact that birth control has other uses besides birth control. Cytotec, one of the drugs targeted in these arguments, can induce abortion, but it also saved my life after my daughter Lucy was born. It stopped the excessive bleeding I was experiencing.

Female employees of Hobby Lobby should have the same access to the same healthcare that I do. If it affects only one group with a history of being discriminated against, it is wrong. If it favors one religion, it is wrong.

PERIOD. (No pun intended.)

To my Christian and conservative friends reading this blog – I love you and am glad you are my friends. Please let’s keep talking about this. It is the only way it will ever get fixed. Christianity has done good in the world. It can be lovely. But this is not an example of one of those times. I think the media and politicians have polarized us and made it seem like this is about religious vs. gender rights when it really is not. The fact is, this decision is still sexist and favors Christianity over other religions. But Hobby Lobby is not some hero, not all Christians hate women, and there is no war on Christianity. We get such a one-dimensional view of things from the media and Facebook. LET’S KEEP TALKING TO EACH OTHER.

Hey, I’ve been published! Please check out Lucy’s story on Voices for Vaccines’ “Parents Who Vax” blog: http://www.voicesforvaccines.org/protecting-those-who-need-it-most/

As well as my latest post on Mamalode magazine’s website: http://mamalode.com/story/detail/letter-to-baby-bean