You might think this is a political post. It is not. This is about management power and women’s health at first. Then, it’s about employee health.
Yesterday, the US Supreme Court decided that a company could withhold contraceptive care from women, based on the company’s owner’s religious beliefs. Hobby Lobby is a privately held corporation.
Women take contraception pills for many reasons. If you have endometriosis, you take them so you can have children in the future. You save your fertility by not bleeding out every month. (There’s more to it than that. That’s the short version.)
If you are subject to ovarian cysts, birth control pills control them, too. If you are subject to the monthly “crazies” and you want to have a little control over your hormones, the pill can do wonders for you.
It’s not about sex. It’s not about pregnancy. It’s about health. It’s about power over your own body.
And, don’t get me started on the myriad reasons for having a D&C. As someone who had a blighted ovum, and had to have a D&C at 13 weeks (yes, 13 weeks), I can tell you that I don’t know anyone who goes in for an abortion who is happy about it.
It was the saddest day of my life.
I had great health care and a supportive spouse. I had grief counseling. I eventually had another child. Because, you see, a blighted ovum is not really a miscarriage. It felt like one to me. But it wasn’t really. Just ask your healthcare provider.
Maybe some women use abortion or the morning-after pill as primary contraception. It’s possible. You don’t have to like other people’s choices. That should be their choice. If you make good contraception free, women don’t have to use abortion or the morning-after pill as a primary contraception choice.
When other people remove a woman’s right to choose how she gets health care for her body, it’s the first step down an evil road. This is not about religious freedom. Yes, it’s couched in those terms now. But this is about management power.
It’s the first step towards management deciding that they can make women a subservient class and what they can do to that subservient class. Right now, that class is women and contraception. What will the next class be?
Will management decide everyone must get genetic counseling before you have a baby? Will they force you to abort a not-perfect baby because they don’t want to pay for the cost of a preemie? Or the cost of a Down Syndrome baby? What about if you have an autistic child?
Men, don’t think you’re immune from this either. What if you indulge in high-risk behavior, such as helicopter skiing? Or, if you gain too much weight? What if you need knee replacements or hip replacements?
What if you have chronic diseases? What happens if you get cancer?
What about when people get old? Will we have euthanasia?
We have health care, including contraception, as the law of the United States. I cannot believe that a non-religious company, i.e, not a church, is being allowed to flaunt that law. This is about management power. This is not about religion.
If they can say, “I don’t wanna” to this, what can they say, “I don’t wanna” to next?
This is the abuse of management power.
This is the first step down a very slippery slope.
