End-Running Contraception

From my review of Christianist organizations' websites for a number of years, it has long been evident to me that gays are not the only targets in the Christianist agenda to implement a Taliban-like legal structure to bar all citizens from exercising rights and choices not supported by the Christianists' warped, intolerant religious views. Among the other matters they seek to force to conform to their views are divorce - they want to make divorce much harder, even though ironically they have the highest divorce rate of any religious group - and contraception. A reading of their sites and articles by their blowhard talking heads make it clear that they believe that there is NO RIGHT TO PRIVACY under the U.S. Constitution. Therefore, they seek not only a reversal of Roe. v. Wade and Lawrence v. Texas, but also Griswold v. Connecticut which struck down laws banning the use of contraception by MARRIED couples. Now, Bob Felton over at Civil Commotion has a post that shows that the Chimperator is trying to assist this agenda backhandedly by regulations and interpretations. Here are relevant highlights:

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It’s been clear for a long time that the evangelical right means to eliminate not merely abortion, but even contraception; I’ve written about it previously here, here, here, and here. Now, President Bush’s Health and Human Services department proposes a rule that permits employees of facilities that receive federal dollars — which is practically all hospitals — to refuse to participate in any procedures that violate their religious beliefs, including the provision of contraception.

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I am not making this up, or indulging in hyperbole:

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Therefore, the Department proposes to interpret this term broadly, as encompassing individuals who are members of the workforce of the Department-funded entity performing the objectionable procedure. When applying the term “assist in the performance” to members of an entity’s workforce, the Department proposes to include participation in any activity with a logical connection to the objectionable procedure, including referrals, training, and other arrangements for offending procedures. For example, an operating room nurse would assist in the performance of surgical procedures, and an employee whose task it is to clean the instruments used in a particular procedure, would be considered to assist in the performance of the particular procedure.

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And don’t kid yourself: These yahoos won’t hesitate for an instant to put their hands on other people’s lives and destroy them for the glory of Jesus. It is beyond shocking that HHS would seriously propose to codify such a wide-ranging veto of private health decisions. Contact Congress … today.