Sandra Fluke’s Statement

The Testimony Chairman Issa (and RL) Doesn’t Want You to Hear

Sandra Fluke was blocked from testifying on the topic of the contraception compromise of the Obama administration.

Basically, the Catholic Bishop Lobby has been working on making Catholic hospitals and other Catholic businesses exempt from covering birth control pills. The essence of the compromise was that it does not cost the Catholic businesses anything if the health insurance plan includes birth control pills because the plans would have to cost more without them (because they would be covering post conception issues).

The Catholic Bishop Lobby, along with the Congressional Republicans are working very hard to limit women’s rights – so the issue here is not about the money but about the control. The Conservative frame is that the poor Catholics are having to fund something that is against their “faith”. But how can they be funding something if it costs less (HA!)

Conservatives would rather twist into pretzels than admit that this issue is about men controlling women. The Catholic church with their all male rulers seem to think that they should control the government like they did in the ‘good old days’. The Church is founded on the disdain for sex and disdain for women. Their leaders don’t have anything to do with women (sexually) – and they seem to like it like that – they seem to think that that gives them power. As if, women, by association would weaken them.

I think that we may need a new church – one that includes the premise that sex is normal (so long as it is between consenting adults). What a concept. Then it would be more obvious an argument to say that the Catholic Church/Republicans are infringing on the women’s religious freedom. The Church/Republicans seem to think that religious freedom trumps even the rights of one’s bodily integrity – one’s actual self.

Props to Sandra Fluke and the group that she is associated with – Law Students for Reproductive Justice. I added the group and their blog to my blogroll.