While there were many lessens learned through the Komen fiasco the main one was: Stop messing with Women’s Health or face the consequences.
Republicans would be wise to study what happened to Komen, because their plan of going after contraception could very well destroy them in the same way it destroyed Komen. By moving contraception into the forefront of the abortion wars the GOP has not only revealed its true strategy, it has exposed its King. And everyone knows that the Queen is the most powerful piece on the board. Lose your Queen, lose the… election?
Cassandra points out the assist given to the Bishops and GOP from the News Journal Editorial Board. Of course, they weren’t alone in their silliness. You couldn’t pick up a newspaper or turn on the television without hearing the “religious” argument – mostly by men, btw.
Obama took the religious argument off the table last week. The fight now is about contraception, no matter how much Republicans try and spin it. Unfortunately, for them, the Bishops aren’t helping them spin.
“The only complete solution to this religious liberty problem is for HHS [the Department of Health and Human Services] to rescind the mandate of these objectionable services,” the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said in a statement.
Got that? The Bishops aren’t just speaking for their flock. They are calling for everyone to be subjected to Catholic Doctrine. If you aren’t Catholic and have no moral objection to contraception… too bad. This isn’t about religion anymore – of course, it never was. This is simply the next logical step in the Conservative’s desire to control women – after all, if you get rid of contraception it makes the whole Madonna/whore scorecard so much easier to read.
We’ve come a long way since JFK, who had to make clear that he wouldn’t take orders from the Vatican. Today, Republicans are perfecting their genuflecting.
And the fact that most Catholics disagree with their “moral” leaders gets lost in the noise.
Yet in his refusal to cave completely to the religious liberty campaign, Obama has illustrated the reality that the bishops no longer speak for most U.S. Catholics—the nation’s largest religious denomination and a critical swing-voter group—on a host of moral issues, according to polls.
Not on abortion or the death penalty (a majority of Catholics believe those should remain legal); on divorce or homosexuality (most say those are acceptable); on women being ordained as priests and priests getting married (ditto); or on masturbation and pre-marital sex (ditto again, Your Excellencies).
And especially not on contraception. Ever since Pope Paul VI reaffirmed the Church’s senseless ban on birth control in 1968, few doctrines have been as vilified, ridiculed and outright ignored by Catholics – evidenced by a recent study showing that 98% of American Catholic women have used some form of contraception. It’s hard to believe, as the bishops would have it, that those women simply succumbed to society’s pressure to do the secular thing. They’ve decided, in keeping with their faith’s precept of exercising personal conscience, that family planning is the moral and societally responsible thing to do—for example, preventing unwanted pregnancies and therefore abortions. And it explains why a recent Public Religion Research Institute poll found most Catholics support the contraception coverage mandate even for Catholic-affiliated organizations. Presumably most endorse Friday’s compromise.
These men have lost control of their flock. Seriously, this group of men is the last group of people to lecture anyone on morality. Their time would be better spent getting their own house in moral order. Sorry, but their positioning on this issue will reignite other issues.
But the interesting outcome of this debate is the Republican reaction. They seemed determined to go there.
Not satisfied with President Obama’s new religious accommodation, Republicans will move forward with legislation by Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) that permits any employer to deny birth control coverage in their health insurance plans, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said Sunday.
“If we end up having to try to overcome the President’s opposition by legislation, of course I’d be happy to support it, and intend to support it,” McConnell said. “We’ll be voting on that in the Senate and you can anticipate that that would happen as soon as possible.”
No more hiding behind fetuses for them. They are willing to rip off the mask and run with their real agenda. Openly. Oh, they’re still desperately trying to hide behind religious liberty, but that ship sailed last week. All they’re left with is coming out against contraception.
That’s a fight I’m willing to have.