So this whole birth control thingamadoo? Not about women at all!

[ironbite]

So says Republican Joe Walsh

conservative Illinois congressmen over the weekend after he said the national debate over birth control coverage is "not about women."

During a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing last week, Walsh told the all-male panel that President Barack Obama's plan to eliminate co-pays for birth control was an attack on religious freedom.

"This is not about women. This is not about contraceptives. We know, you've said it, we've said it up here. This is about religious freedom. This is about religious liberties," Walsh told the panel.

Yes because granting women access to birth control and easing an already overcrowded population is an attack on religions liberties.

Ironbite-I think I speak for everyone when I say...SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU FUCKING IDIOT!

[Smurfette Principle]

To Mr. Walsh:

It is a violation of religious liberty to withhold medical care for someone who does not subscribe to your particular religious practices. You cannot force everyone to follow your religious doctrine, as that would also be a violation of religious liberty. Moreover, you are not allowed to mandate what other people within your faith do with their lives - while you can suggest practices, and praise or condemn those who do or do not follow those practices, you cannot use the law to do so. That would be a violation of religious liberty.

You, sir, are an idiot.

[RavynousHunter]

I think I'll leave this here as my response to Fuhrer Holierthanthou:

[gyeonghwa]

Your religious rights ends where another person reproductive parts begin. You don't get to dictate who can and cannot receive contraceptive. If you believe religious freedom trumps other rights, then you've effectively said you can commit terrorism over religion. 

[kefkaownsall]

To be fair Joe Walsh would not see it as an issue of women seeing as he hates them (guy owes 6 figure child support)

[Qlockworkcanary]

Mr. Walsh, we are not required to grant the Pope (a non-American citizen) any religious freedom to force his interpretation onto other Catholics nor other people of differing faiths. He is not an American.

Institutions don't have freedom of religion; individuals do.

Again I ask these GOP fucktard knuckle-draggers, exactly who's religious rights are being violated and who's religious rights have been violated all this time?

[Yaezakura]

Requiring all employers to cover birth-control in their company insurance policies is not the same as requiring individual people of a certain religious faith to use birth control. Catholic people are more than welcome to refuse the use of contraceptives. Their insurance covering it doesn't mean they have to use it. This should be blindingly obvious as any "devout Catholic" employed at a non-religious institution likely has the medication covered yet doesn't use it.

[TenfoldMaquette]

Requiring all employers to cover birth-control in their company insurance policies is not the same as requiring individual people of a certain religious faith to use birth control. Catholic people are more than welcome to refuse the use of contraceptives. Their insurance covering it doesn't mean they have to use it. This should be blindingly obvious as any "devout Catholic" employed at a non-religious institution likely has the medication covered yet doesn't use it.

But then they'd have to openly admit that a reality outside of their paradigm exists, and that would be bad. Because god.

/smallestviolin

[gyeonghwa]

Requiring all employers to cover birth-control in their company insurance policies is not the same as requiring individual people of a certain religious faith to use birth control. Catholic people are more than welcome to refuse the use of contraceptives. Their insurance covering it doesn't mean they have to use it. This should be blindingly obvious as any "devout Catholic" employed at a non-religious institution likely has the medication covered yet doesn't use it.

Funny thing is that 98% of Catholic women use contraceptives anyway. So the Pope trying to stop them from using it through meddling in our legislations is basically a fuck you to the majority of Catholic women.

[Yaezakura]

Requiring all employers to cover birth-control in their company insurance policies is not the same as requiring individual people of a certain religious faith to use birth control. Catholic people are more than welcome to refuse the use of contraceptives. Their insurance covering it doesn't mean they have to use it. This should be blindingly obvious as any "devout Catholic" employed at a non-religious institution likely has the medication covered yet doesn't use it.

Funny thing is that 98% of Catholic women use contraceptives anyway. So the Pope trying to stop them from using it through meddling in our legislations is basically a fuck you to the majority of Catholic women.

Oh, I know. Thus the quotes around the term in my original post.

What gets me is all their talk about god's will this and that, yet I've yet to hear them say anything negative about viagra, which lets a man get a boner to have sex against God's will, as obviously if God wanted the dude to have sex, he'd be able to stand at attention without a crutch.

[clockworkgirl21]

I don't think not wanting companies to have to provide BC is necessarily anti-woman, but since they already provide Viagra and make comments about women keeping Aspirin between their knees, it obviously is in this case.

Plus, when you bring the fact that they had a BC meeting and didn't invite any women into the mix, can it really be anything else?

[Vypernight]

Makes sense.  Birth Control prevents religion from relegating women to second-class citizens. 

How dare they stomp on the rights on men to stomp on the rights of women!

[m52nickerson]

Requiring all employers to cover birth-control in their company insurance policies is not the same as requiring individual people of a certain religious faith to use birth control. Catholic people are more than welcome to refuse the use of contraceptives. Their insurance covering it doesn't mean they have to use it. This should be blindingly obvious as any "devout Catholic" employed at a non-religious institution likely has the medication covered yet doesn't use it.

Hitting the nail on the head I see. 

[erictheblue]

If you believe religious freedom trumps other rights, then you've effectively said you can commit terrorism over religion.

That's nothing new. What do you think the "Wanted" posters of doctors that Operation Rescue puts out are? Or the egging houses and cars, throwing rocks, etc...