Warning: I’m about to get all political up in here.
While driving to work, instead of learning Japanese like I
normally do, I heard a story on NPR about how the Administration* is requiring
religiously affiliated institutions, like hospitals and universities, to
provide birth control to their employees**. The institutions feel the new rule
violates their liberties by forcing them to provide a service they morally
oppose. The articles I’ve heard and read make this out to be a religious issue.
It’s an issue that involves religious institutions, true, but it’s not really
about religious liberties, in my opinion.
The issue is two-fold.
The first deals with the question of institutional versus
individual rights. This isn’t about religious institutions, but all collective
entities, like corporations***. Do we protect institutional rights at the
expense of individual rights? Or do we protect the rights of individuals above
all?
The track record is spotty at best, but one similar issue
that comes to mind is the smoking ban. When states started to ban smoking in
bars and restaurants, one of the key reasons was to protect the health of the
waitstaff and bartenders who worked there. The right of the establishment to
offer smoking was nullified by the rights of its employees.
The second part of the issue is that healthcare and
insurance are tied directly to employment. Let’s not bother with the idea of
buying insurance on your own—the two are not even comparable; non-employer
insurance is cost prohibitive and only gets more expensive and nightmarish the
older and more afflicted a person becomes****. If institutions don’t want to
support birth control requirements, or other controversial mandates, they
should support universal access to universal healthcare. That way, they can
wash their hands of any direct involvement in the health policies of their
employees.
That is, as long as they don’t use prescription hand lotion.
It’s, unfortunately, not covered by the health plan at this time.
*I’m not going to call it “The Obama Administration”. It’s
the Administration until a successor takes over. Then it can have a modifier to
distinguish it from other, past administrations.
***Technically, corporations are also considered individuals
(although not on this blog)
****Ever tried it? As a freelancer I had the pleasure of
buying my own insurance. I quickly became a more cautious person.