Religious groups that oppose President Obama’s mandate that they provide contraception are using the right to religious liberty as a way to discriminate against women, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said in an email opposing congressional repeal of the mandate.
“Anti-choice forces around the country are yelling from the rooftops about religious freedom,” wrote Laura Murphy, the ACLU’s director of the Washington Legislative office, in an email urging supporters to tell their congressional representatives to support the mandate . “But what they actually mean is the use of religion to discriminate and deny millions of women access to birth control [original emphasis].” Murphy faulted opponents of the mandate for “us[ing] religion to discriminate] against women.
The ACLU email framed the issue as a conflict between “lobbying groups” and Obama over the rights of women. “[W]hen lobbying groups — led by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops — insisted that the exemption be expanded to include religiously affiliated hospitals, universities and other institutions, jeopardizing coverage for millions of women, the Obama administration drew a line in the sand,” the email declared.
“If the lobbying groups get their way, a woman teaching at a Catholic university could not get coverage,” the Murphy added. “Or, a nurse working at an evangelical Christian hospital could be denied access to basic health care.”
MSNBC host Chris Matthews explained last night, though, how that requirement conflicts with religious liberty. “If the church teaches it’s morally wrong to use birth control,” he said, “how can you make the teacher pay for the birth control without losing their authority, their moral authority?”
But Murphy argued that opponents of the contraception mandate want to circumscribe the rights of women. “Religious freedom is about protecting people of all faiths, not imposing the values of some on the rest of us,” she concluded.
