Brewer signs birth control exemption

[Neoma]

PHOENIX - Arizona businesses that designate themselves as a "religiously affiliated employer" will no longer have to include contraception in the insurance coverage they provide for their workers.
Gov. Jan Brewer has signed legislation to broaden an exemption to a 2002 law prohibiting businesses that provide prescription drugs as part of their health-insurance plans from excluding birth control pills.

"In its final form, this bill is about nothing more than preserving religious freedom to which were all constitutionally entitled," Brewer said in a prepared statement. "Mandating that a religious institution provide a service in direct contradiction with its faith would represent an obvious encroachment upon the First Amendment."

Read all here.

[HockeyMom]

1. Mandating your religion on your employees

that is what it means.

[freshwest]

2. +1,000. And it's happening in more ways than this. Discrimination based on religion.

What of the freedom of religion of the women whose only choice is working for these outfits when jobs are so hard to come by?

They must obey a religious belief system that they don't believe in... Violating their own conscience and beliefs, but that doesn't count because of their class.

If they want to opt-out of paying for their part of their company benefit, they won't be reimbursed. Instead, they'll join the ranks of the working underinsured. Or lose their jobs if they get uppity about it.

Yet the fascists see this as the way of nature and intend to enforce it everywhere. We're in big trouble.

[Neoma]

4. Yeah...

The religious cannot seem to be neutral. There's barely separation of church and state it feels like, and the churches all have a political standpoint because of the super duper religious politicians who make it their duty to cleanse the world of sin.

I don't really believe that will change. We already know the reaction toward the idea of atheist politicians. "But they don't have morals." Because, I suppose being all churchy grants you immunity from character flaws some how.

[Kalidurga]

3. What is it with Republicans and shovels these days...

they get to the bottom of the barrel and dig deeper. I haven't seen anything like this well ever. If they keep it up we will be a third world nation in a decade. Oh wait, we already have places that meet that criteria in the US, many places in the south, the Appalachians. Michigan, and the some places in the Ozarks.

[Warren DeMontague]

5. Another victory for Arizona.

Barf.

[zappaman]

6. Disgusting.

Can Arizona please secede and take Florida with them?

[CreekDog]

7. even in Arizona, there's room to go backwards

yikes.

what a travesty.