No, he's saying that forcing Catholic employers that employ or service non-Catholics to offer a service that violates their beliefs is unconstitutional. And I agree with him. Would you force a Muslim-owned restaurant to serve alcohol or force a Jewish deli to serve ham and cheese on rye?

/don't agree with the Catholic stance on birth control
//neither does my Catholic girlfriend
///no, it doesn't matter anyway at the moment

ArkAngel: No, he's saying that forcing Catholic employers that employ or service non-Catholics to offer a service that violates their beliefs is unconstitutional. And I agree with him. Would you force a Muslim-owned restaurant to serve alcohol or force a Jewish deli to serve ham and cheese on rye?

/don't agree with the Catholic stance on birth control
//neither does my Catholic girlfriend
///no, it doesn't matter anyway at the moment

They can choose not to offer the benefit then, just as any other employer can choose to offer or not offer the benefit.

While we are forcing people to have a health plan, last I checked, we are not forcing employers to purchase one for their employees.

I'm not sure how putting the cost on the private insurance companies is going to make health care more affordable for everyone

AverageAmericanGuy: This is precisely why medical care should be socialized. The government would be completely free to dispense this kind of care or free and fully within the bounds of he Constitution.

Look, between you and me, I am all for people having easy access to inexpensive or free healthcare- but I am not convinced that we can rely on the government to do it any better than the private sector- not that the private sector is really great at providing it either.

StubhyGraham: How hard is it to start a religion? I mean, could I go out there and start a religion based on doing a large amount of drugs and if anyone tries to arrest me, I can just claim religious persecution? Could I sell drugs and launder it through this religion and therefore make it tax-free?

This joke was funnier before 1990. (new window)

The Founding Fathers didnt support women voting, much less getting subsidized birth control.

meat0918: ArkAngel: No, he's saying that forcing Catholic employers that employ or service non-Catholics to offer a service that violates their beliefs is unconstitutional. And I agree with him. Would you force a Muslim-owned restaurant to serve alcohol or force a Jewish deli to serve ham and cheese on rye?

/don't agree with the Catholic stance on birth control
//neither does my Catholic girlfriend
///no, it doesn't matter anyway at the moment

They can choose not to offer the benefit then, just as any other employer can choose to offer or not offer the benefit.

While we are forcing people to have a health plan, last I checked, we are not forcing employers to purchase one for their employees.

So the people who are hurt are the people who work for Catholic institutions who will no longer have a health plan. Nice law.

Query, seen elsewhere: if the feds can order that insurers MUST cover birth control, can the feds order that insurers MAY NOT cover birth control?

bulldg4life: TehNacho: but I am not convinced that we can rely on the government to do it any better than the private sector

Have you seen the cost and inefficiency of the American health care system?

The rest of the industrialized world has some form of government provided minimum care in the form of universal coverage. Do you believe they ALL do it because socialism?

Do you believe that systems that work in other places with differently set up governments, population densities, overall population numbers, tax schemes, etc., would work perfectly here?

At minimum, you have to realize that we have some real farksticks working for our government- have you talked to a veteran about their healthcare recently? Have you seen the condition some of our infastructure is in? Have you ever heard of the TSA?

Socialism or not, THESE people are not the people to put in charge of your healthcare any more than the current group of clowns that are. At least when you have to sue the current group of clowns, you are not taking on the government, you are usually taking on a private corporation that is beholden to shareholders and public relations face keeping.

Also, you are not going to convince me that I am wrong by accusing me of wanting the government out of healthcare because that's communist durrrrr. That's not the case at all. They have consistently proven themselves not only incompetent, but they also get to make the rules and enjoy the liberty to screw around with people- why give them even more power to do so?

Ken at Popehat: Query, seen elsewhere: if the feds can order that insurers MUST cover birth control, can the feds order that insurers MAY NOT cover birth control?

Yes.