The recent women’s health policy announced by the Obama administration has caused a blizzard of posts, comments, tweets and protests from…… MEN! Yes. The loudest MAN has been the Catholic Church. I was raised a Catholic and not a “new” Catholic. My family can trace our roots back to the crucifixion. I am half Irish, half Italian and a direct descendent of Canon Sheehan. I lived my entire life under the auspices of the male dominated church only to be disappointed by the destructive inner secrets that were hidden from the population.
The Church professes to be the One and Only Church,but I have yet to see any hint of Jesus’ teachings in their loud, angry protests and judgements against gays and women. The Catholic Bishops rattle up their followers with wars on everything from same sex marriage to birth control, conveniently veiled as arguments about “freedom of religion” and no the outdated rules that remind women they are subservient and their lives are ruled by The Church.
One blogger on CatholicVote.org, felt he made a great case against the Obama administration and the women’s health policy. He titled it Women’s Health = Not Having Babies and opens with, “Of course, all of us have now heard that contraception is a very, very important part of Women’s Health™ (can someone help me register that as a trademark because I think that would be kind of funny if I owned it?).”
Wow that would be hilarious if you trademarked the words “Women’s Health” because it is as impossible to OWN words in a sentence, any more than you can own a woman. The first sentence indicates that no smart conversation is going to characterize his argument which is formulated around women being given a “free ride” on controlling their own fertility.
Thornton DOES NOT LIKE women getting birth control pills with no copay (which by the way does not come out of his pocket). Instead, he likes the idea of paying for a baby when it is born to a young mother through his tax dollars.
First, let’s actually look at the new policy. As published by CNN, it simply requires, “most private health plans to cover preventive services for women without charging a co-pay starting on August 1, 2012. These preventive services include well women visits, domestic violence screening, and contraception, and all were recommended to the Secretary of Health and Human Services by the independent Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science.”
Dr. Thornton offers a snide comment about Obama, “We have been told repeatedly by our esteemed Commander in Health that it is so important that EVERY insurance program should cover it. No matter what. Not only should they cover it, but they should cover it WITHOUT a co-pay. If that same young mother wants to have sex without having a baby, well she damn well better not have to pay $20 for that! Because as well know, that is a matter of Women’s Health™.”
So, it would seem for Thornton, that women being exempt from a co-pay is the real SIN. While Thornton likes to demonize the idea of women getting birth control for free, he lacks the understanding of what that birth control actually covers. It gives women the ability to be in charge of the rest of their life. Birth control pills also manage other healthcare issues that affect women.
“If that same young mother wants to have sex without having a baby, well she damn well better not have to pay $20 for that!”
That mother is not having sex by herself, because if she was she would NOT require birth control. The mandate covers sex between a man and a woman so they can protect themselves from having an unwanted child.
Thornton’s rant was just a taste of his bosses’ comments. So, Obama compromised. The White House released a statement today stating, “But if a woman’s employer is a charity, hospital or other religious organization that has a religious objection to providing contraceptive services as part of its health plan, her insurance company – and not the hospital or charity – will be required to reach out and offer her contraceptive care free of charge.”
So I guess it was just about the money.
What do Catholic WOMEN think about the uproar over THEIR health care? Right now, the voices are men like Thornton and other bloggers on VoteCatholic.org as well as Catholic Bishops. Women have been quietly leaving the church over the past two decades.
Consider this article by Father John McCloskey, State of the US Catholic Church at the Beginning of 2006, “Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, Catholics tend to contracept at the same rate as the rest of the world. Hence the number of children per Catholic family is not significantly different from that of non-Catholics. Catholics tend to have fewer abortions than the rest of the population, but not by a large percentage.”
Good Job, Thornton! I would skip church for a few weeks if I were you. The women may be sweet to your face, but the words of you and yours are contrary to the way Catholic women in the U.S. live today. Now you’ve just made their budget $20 more expensive.
