Thursday, September 13, 2012

GOP Dominated Missouri Legislature Passes Anti-Contraception Bill

Despite denials that it is not an anti-woman party, the Missouri GOP just over rode a veto of a bill that would grant special rights to Christianists and allow employers and perhaps insurers to deny contraception coverage under health plans.  Not surprisingly, the child rapist protecting Catholic Conference and other religious extremists backed the bill.   If women voters have any doubts as to what the Republican Party thinks of them, they need look no farther to see the 11th century mindset that the GOP holds towards women.  The alleged "religious freedom" smoke screen invoked by Republicans amounts to nothing more that granting special rights to Christianists to inflict their views on all citizens.  Here are excerpts from a Huffington Post story on yesterday's vote: 

Missouri lawmakers enacted new religious exemptions from insurance coverage of birth control Wednesday, overriding a gubernatorial veto and delivering a political rebuke to an Obama administration policy requiring insurers to cover contraception.

Although Missouri and 20 other states already had some sort of exemption from contraceptive coverage, Missouri's newly expanded law appears to be the first in the nation directly rebutting the federal contraception mandate, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures and supporters of the law.

Republican legislative leaders barely met the two-thirds majority needed to override the veto by Gov. Jay Nixon. 
Shortly after the vote, an attorney for the Greater Kansas City Coalition of Labor Union Women said it was seeking an injunction against the measure. Among other things, the suit being filed in Cole County Circuit Court claims the new Missouri law conflicts with President Barack Obama's health care law and thus should be struck down.

The Missouri measure was championed by the Missouri Catholic Conference, Missouri Right to Life and other religious and anti-abortion groups.

While vetoing the bill in July, Nixon said it was unnecessary because Missouri already has strong religious exemptions in its insurance laws. He also said the new Missouri law could allow insurers to claim a religious or moral exemption and thus deny birth control coverage to women who want it. 

The new Missouri law allows individuals, employers and insurers to cite religious or moral exemptions from mandatory insurance coverage for abortion, contraception and sterilization. It changes a "may" to a "shall" when describing an insurer's duty to provide policies without contraception coverage for those who request it. And the new law gives the state attorney general – or other individuals and entities – grounds to file lawsuits claiming an infringement of rights if they are compelled to cover contraception.

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