SOCIAL CONSERVATIVE SOLUTIONS ONLY WORK IN CARTOONS

http://www.laconiadailysun.com/node/130442/18663

Social conservative solutions are nonsense, only work in cartoons

Apr 05, 2012 12:00 am

To the editor,

Thomas LeMay states in his March 30 letter that I veered away from discussing abortion in our debate over contraception. Not true. In the beginning, I state,

"For a bunch of tea bags who are concerned with abortion and welfare, they sure haven't thought this one out in the slightest. If one wants fewer abortions and less welfare families, family planning, sexual healthcare, sex education, and contraception education are the only answers. Making contraception unavailable and abortion illegal is about as intelligent a solution as the drug war is for drug use or banning guns is to end violent crime."

Like right wing economics, the social conservative solutions in the culture war are nonsense that only work in cartoons. In the letter published right after the one Mr. Lemay addressed March 30, I took on the subject of abortion statistics precisely because Mr. Lemay was so animated by it. In it I showed that pro-life strategies utterly fail statistically at actually being pro-life. The latest WHO/Guttmacher study reveals that overall, the highest abortion rates are where it is illegal and where contraception availability is low. The nations with the most liberal laws and the best family planning services had the lowest rates. Belgium had one-third our rate because they don't have a million right wing restrictions to reproductive autonomy. No matter where one comes down on the rights issue, the best way to reduce abortion is with liberal family planning laws and the numbers back that up. Hindering family planning and outlawing abortion doesn't work in the real world.

Mr. Lemay's proposed reach for religious exemptions is extreme while the laws enacted by many states are sensible. Like "Obamacare", they exempt places of worship but not any businesses churches may buy and operate in the market sector. They lose their special rights when they become an employer of the general public.

In 2002, Republican Governor George Pataki signed the "New York Women's Health and Wellness Act". The NY law stated if an insurance plan covered prescriptions, they had to include contraception prescriptions, too. In 2004, ten religiously affiliated social service groups sued. A NY trial court upheld the law as constitutional, noting that "a broader exemption would frustrate the law's goals of promoting women's health and ending gender discrimination".

Then Catholic Charities appealed to the New York State Appellate Division. They lost again. Then the case went to the NY Court of Appeals which found that its "object to increase women's access to health care does not target religious practices." Then the case was off to another New York State Court of Appeals. It upheld the trial court's original ruling and found that the law was neutral. The religious group then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court for review. The court denied their petition. Law stands.

In California, much the same happened. The Women's Contraception Equity Act became law in 2000. Catholic Charities filed suit. They lost the first round in the appeals court. In the end, the California Supreme Court upheld the law, holding "that it does not impermissibly impair the religious rights of Catholic Charities by requiring that they include prescription contraceptives in their health benefit program". In October of 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court turned down a request by the Catholic Charities for a review. Law stands.

The EEOC's ruling in 2000 on the California law ruled just as the highest courts later did in both New York and California. "The Commission concludes that Respondents' exclusion of prescription contraceptives violates Title VII, as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, whether the contraceptives are used for birth control or for other medical purposes."

The rulings by the top courts and the EEOC do not agree with any of the religious liberty exemption claims made by those like Mr. Lemay on the conservative side. These laws and rulings were made years before the Affordable Health Care Act was crafted. In fact, New York and California are said to be the models for the prescription plan part. They already saw how the courts came down on this.