The Battle for Contraception

BY: Tyler Harris

In the news, there has been much noise regarding the ongoing legal disputes in the United States Supreme Court. At the center of the ongoing legal disputes are Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Sebelius, case that are challenging the Affordable Care Act’s policy on contraception.

According to the Federal Care Act, birth control is rightfully considered routine preventative care, making it available without copays and is covered by insurance. The basis of the case is that Hobby Lobby, a chain store owned by a Christian conservative, opposes contraception religiously and therefore feel the private, for-profit corporation should be able to oppose it as well. The corporation, owned by Steve Green, also considers birth control to be equivalent to abortion.^[1]

Corporations should have no right to enforce religious views on their employees, excluding churches of course. The argument for the case is that corporations are people, and it is covered under free-speech rights. Although corporations are legally considered people in law, this does not mean that we can step back and let the ideologies of owners be forced on workers. [2]

Customers have the choice whether or not to shop at a corporation based on their religious views. If they do not support the views of a company, they can choose not to shop there and can go to another place. Employees, however, are much different. They cannot freely choose jobs as easily, and some have no choice but to work. It only makes sense to have basic human rights laws protecting them federally.

It is surprising for me that the fight over contraception is even occurring in 2014. The average American woman has two children, and spends over thirty years trying to prevent extra pregnancies. Currently, 62% of all women of reproductive age are currently using contraception. Almost 70% (43 million) of all women are at risk of unintended pregnancy. [3] The American lifestyle is based around contraception; not having it could indirectly lead to things such as increased birthrates and poverty, wreaking havoc on the economy and our way of life.

If the Supreme Court allows this, who is to say that a business could also exclude mental healthcare, HIV tests, vaccines, or any other area of health care that they feel is morally wrong. There is already a push to federal ban sexuality workplace discrimination. This is a huge backwards step when it comes to rights of a worker overall.

Taking a look back, birth control was mainly condoms for men before the Industrial Revolution. Abortion inducing herbs were used and inserted into a women’s vagina to kill sperm. Rubber vulcanization was invented in 1839 and eventually led to an explosion of the contraceptive industry producing condoms. When these devices were banned by the Comstock Act, dangerous and illegal alternatives for women contraceptive started to circulate, including Lysol disinfectants. When condoms were legal again in 1918, the U.S. birth rate dropped by half by 1920. [4]

The evidence in the past show that people will always opt for contraception use when available. Contraception and low birth rate is one of the factors dividing us between a first world and a third world country. Today we live in a country where half of all pregnancies are unintended. Why do we want to increase the burden on these families? Something so integral to a woman’s life should be allowed and taken under the privacy of that woman, and it is something that the corporation she works for has no business of. The justices will hear the case in the spring and a ruling can be expected this summer.

Footnotes:

[1] Benen, Steve. "ACA contraception policy has its day in court." MSNBC. Last modified March 26, 2014. http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/aca-contraception-policy-has-its-day-court.

[2] Conry, Jeanne A., and Nancy L. Stanwood. "Opinion: In 2014, why are we still arguing about birth control?" CNN. Last modified March 25, 2014. http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/25/opinion/conry-stanwood-contraception-hobby-lobby/.

[3] Guttmacher Institute. "Contraceptive Use in the United States." Guttmacher Institute: Home Page. Accessed March 31, 2014. http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_contr_use.html.

[4] DeNoon, Daniel. "The history of birth control on MedicineNet.com." MedicineNet. Last modified January 30, 2005. http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=51170.