When the founding fathers sat down to write
the US Constitution, they instilled the idea of the church and state being
separate. In fact the first amendment states, “Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof…” Today, many people, including myself, feel that President Obama and
the US government is now violating our first constitutional right.
Until very recent, under Obama’s 2010
Healthcare law most employers were required to fully cover contraception in
their workers' health plans, including the ever so scandalous ‘morning after
pill’. This means that all private corporations and business, religious/Christian based or
not, were going to be required to provide insurance that covers something that
completely goes against their morals and conscience. The Catholic population
was furious.
Obama, being the politician he is, announced
last Friday that he was going to change the rule a little bit. Now instead of
the religious employers, who object to the use of birth control, insurance companies are now responsible for covering the cost of contraceptives ‘free of
charge.’ And guess what? The Catholics still don’t approve. Hours after Obama
announced the so called compromise the US Conference of Catholic Bishops
(USCCB) rejected the plan. One representative of the USCCB stated that the compromise “continues
to involve needless government intrusion in the internal governance of
religious institutions, and to threaten government coercion of religious people
and groups to violate their most deeply held convictions.”
So is the US government violating our first
amendment? Yes, I believe so. The first amendment clearly states that Congress
cannot prohibit the free exercise of religion. This health care mandate is
forcing people to go against their morals, conscience, and faith. Employers and
even insurance companies have the right to follow their own conscience just
like everyone else. Also, if an employee is that upset that the company they
are working doesn't offer contraceptives as part of their insurance plan, that
employee has every right to leave and find a different job in the secular
community. If they don’t want to find a new job that offers that kind of
insurance, birth control does not cost that much per month and is a very
affordable out of pocket expense.
In conclusion, all I have to say is good job
Obama. That’s one way to rally the Christian voters in an election year.
I actually completely disagree with you. First of all, the Founding Fathers did not sit down and consider the amendments, such as the Bill of Rights, at the same time as they wrote the Constitution. Second of all, Obama seems to be trying to help the poor and unfortunate. Of course those who can't afford birth control or any more children should restrain from having sex, but they aren't. When you barely have enough for food to feed your family, you are not going to be able to afford the 'out of pocket' expense of birth control every month. Obama isn't trying to violate our first amendment rights in anyway. He is just trying to provide for those less fortunate and cut down on the number of hungry children. The first amendment also states that Congress shall not make a law respecting the establishment of religion. To me this says that when we make our laws, we cannot be bias for or against religion in anyway. Christians shouldn't be turned away from Obama from this because he isn't the one needing the contraceptives, he is just trying to help those who do.
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