Republicans have been taking solid stands against women’s rights. Their misogyny extends well beyond opposition to abortion. They are trying to present denying birth control to women as religious freedom. This is largely motivated by their fear that whites will become a minority, so to hold that off they are doing their best to keep women barefoot and pregnant. Rachel Maddow appeared on Meet the Press yesterday, when this issue was discussed.

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow countered conservative criticism of the White House requiring religious organizations to provide insurance for birth control Sunday morning. Appearing on a panel discussion on Meet The Press, Maddow defended the Obama administration’s decision from Republican strategist Alex Castellanos’ and New York Times columnist David Brooks’ criticism. “80 percent of people say that insurance — anybody providing health insurance should be required to cover contraception,” she said. “So there is a way you can try to make this into a religious freedom issue. But all of the Republican field has gone very, very far right specifically on the issue of contraception and they get a great response for it from the Republican primary audience. But campaigning against the availability of birth control in America is going to run into a 21st century ceiling.” Castellanos and Brooks unsurprisingly didn’t share Maddow’s sentiment, feeling that the administration was impeding on religious freedom. However, Maddow and Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA) countered Castellanos and Brooks’ argument, mentioning how the decision from the Department of Health and Human services in 2011 was not about religious freedom, but the requirements of a health insurance provider… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Raw Story>

Here’s the video of Rachel owning Republicans on this and other subjects.

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The argument here is quite simple. When a church is functioning as a church, they have the prerogative to exercise their religious beliefs and forbid birth control to their congregants, most of whom ignore them anyway. But when a church endeavors to provide a business service, they must operate under the same rules that govern everyone else providing that service.