Religious Freedom My Ass

I've had about enough of people whining about how their religious freedoms are being infringed upon by being asked to cover a medication that only women need. A medication that has a wide variety of applications just for women's needs. A medicine needed to manage pain and discomfort and bleeding, but because someone along the line told these religious faithful that the medication was evil and went against God, they should not use it. Consequently, even though someone else who does not hold those same religious beliefs is now not able to have that medicine covered by insurance. This is utter bullshit.

Yeah. Makes me want to scream too, Goat.

It is bullshit because there's  not a real good equivalence impacting men in the same way. Sometimes the idea of erectile dysfunction medication comes up (haha! see what I did there with the pun?). Anyway, some people, myself included, feel that if women can't have birth control covered, then men shouldn't get erectile dysfunction medications. The same argument for not restricting access to both medicines applies: women use birth control for other medical conditions. Men use medications like Viagra for other purposes like heart conditions and high blood pressure. In both cases, the person who needs the medication should not have to justify their prescription to anyone. No one. Not an employer. Not an insurance company. To no one because of bodily autonomy and privacy.
Furthermore, no one is talking about the idea of men's penises in this discussion except the people who support coverage for birth control and call out the double standard. Maybe because no church would limit a man's ability to procreate, but they would try to exert control over women. Especially those women who have the audacity to call them on their bullshit.

Glad we agree on this, Wilfred.

I actually find myself agreeing with the Satanists on this topic. According to the Satantic Temple website the tenets include:

• One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone.
• The freedoms of others should be respected, including the freedom to offend. To willfully and unjustly encroach upon the freedoms of another is to forgo your own.
• Beliefs should conform to our best scientific understanding of the world. We should take care never to distort scientific facts to fit our beliefs.

That's right, Spock. The Satanic Temple are the logical ones.

Apparently it takes Satanists to be rational about this conversation. While the Satanists recently entered the debate on abortion, their argument bears consideration in the light of the birth control argument, too.  Those who oppose birth control coverage do so for reasons that are not scientific. Birth control is not an abortifacient despite claims to the contrary. The Satanic Temple holds with bodily autonomy making questioning the use of the birth control a violation of the self-determination of one's body by not getting pregnant. Even those emergency birth control options prevent pregnancy which begins when the fertilized egg implants, not at fertilization. While some try to say otherwise, the medical community agrees that it's only at implantation that pregnancy occurs. Prior to that, the fertilized egg can still pass out the of the body. It is believed that between 1/3 to 1/2 of all fertilized eggs do not implant according to a report from the Guttmacher Institute website. This means that even the body rejects fertilization as pregnancy. Even though the body can dismiss that many fertilized eggs, no one is claiming that the woman's own uterus is an abortifacient, so what the actual fuck is this whole debate about? It's control over women. Period.

Aunt Frances smells it, too.

The idea of religious freedom though could extend into other issues like fertility treatments for all people, not just same-sex couples. It could also deny coverage to gender reassignment for transgender individuals. It could even restrict blood transfusions or other medical procedures due to an employer being  a Christian Scientist or Jehovah's Witness. Interestingly though, those religions are not raising their voices. Funny that. Perhaps they know that their religious views should not impede another person's right to medical care. Maybe they realize that it's none of their business what another person does or needs to be healthy and well.  

Earth-shattering concept, right Doctor?

Additionally, this seems like a lot of trouble for the business and insurance companies to come up with plans that are tailored just to the views of the business owner, who likely doesn't fully comprehend the medical conditions he or she is attempting to eliminate from policies. Are they also seeking to eliminate vasectomy and tubal ligation? Again, it's really just a way for Christian faiths to exert control over the woman and reduce her to a baby producer.They want to exert control over the reproductive rights of gay and lesbian couples, too. It's bigotry hidden by religion. 

I know, Jareth. It's a bullshit argument. I know.

Religious freedom can also be applied outside of reproductive rights. It can also be applied in arguments concerning pagans and First People's rights. Of course, when the Standing Rock Sioux tribes protested the Dakota Access Pipeline, they were heavily criticized and maligned. If Pagans stood up and protested the sales of public lands or the dumping of waste into wells, rivers, or streams because of their religious belief that these ares are sacred and divine and by many considered their church, they'd be laughed at and tossed aside. Without federal regulations to work with these religious views, the Standing Rock Sioux would surely have lost their battle. Without federal regulations against stripping resources from national parks or preventing pollution, Pagans will lose their sacred groves and natural places of worship. But no one talks about these concerns in the religious freedom debate.

As long as people misunderstand this, they will never take us seriously in the argument.

Women don't matter. LGBTQ don't matter. First People's don't matter. Pagans don't matter. Only the righteous Christians matter in this issue. Even then, probably only the white ones. 

No moose. Not you. I know.