In case you don’t have social media or live in a cave, let me start out by describing what happened today: this morning the Supreme Court ruled 5-to-4 that making employers pay for birth control for their female employees went against the freedom of religion. In layman’s terms, the freedom of one wealthy white man to oppress people in the name of religion trumps the rights of thousands of women and their reproductive health.

Although, I’m not so blind to think that those dastardly, sinful women taking a pill to prevent pregnancy keeps David Green up at night. I think his real story looks a bit more like this:

Using religion as an excuse is a way to pinch pockets and cut costs. Either that or David Green just loves oppressing people, women in particular. Both reasons use Christianity as the perfect scapegoat.

Many of the arguments against birth control include that it is a form of abortion, which scientists have disproved over and over….and over…and over again.

If any woman truly believed that then I doubt that 99% of sexually-active women (98% of Catholic women) would be using it.

Not to mention the fact that contraceptives are used for more than just preventing those damned sperm from latching on and making babies. Other benefits include:

1. Lighter, less painful period (always a plus)

2. PMS relief (cause who actually likes cramps, bloating, and sore boobies?)

3. Clearer skin (cause Proactive costs an oily arm and a leg)

4. Preventing Endometriosis (which is this nasty thing where uterine-lining tissue builds up in other places and causes scarring, pain, and infertility)

5. Helping with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (another nasty syndrome that causes irregular periods, acne, and hair growth)

6. Oh yes, and lower cancer risk with endometrial and ovarian cancer (cause screw cancer)

Although I do have an idea for a solution to Mr. Green and other CEO’s moral conundrums, if it is truly a matter of going against their beliefs. If women are not allowed to use contraceptives that are effective or that will stop a pregnancy before it happens then you should be morally obligated to offer a comparable maternity package. This would include but not limited to:

1. Full coverage of doctors visits, sonograms, and other medical pregnancy expenses plus paid time off to receive medical care.

2. Full coverage of hospital birth costs.

3. A minimum of 12 weeks PAID maternity leave.

4. A working wage that would be livable as a single mother.

Seems fair, right? If we can’t have access to the contraceptives that allow us to choose when we conceive (since clearly abstinence is effective…*eyeroll*) then we should at least get the support that is owed to us. Especially since working single mothers are disproportionately poor. Hmm, wonder why?

Or, perhaps, it should be mandatory to experience child birth, like these guys, before telling women what to do with their bodies:

Really, what I’m trying to get to is this:

When you look at a lot of the political issues and debates ravishing our country including topics such as abortion, gay marriage, and reproductive rights they all seem to revolve around one issue in particular: freedom of religion. But what we’re missing is the freedom FROM religion.

We tend to forget that this country was not founded on Christianity. It was founded to escape persecution by….wait for it…..oppressive Christians! (I add in oppressive because it is obviously not all Christians and the religion itself that are the problem. The problem arises when individuals use a religion as an excuse to do what they want, usually for the purpose of gaining or maintaining power over another group of people) This new country was based upon the idea that no one should be forced to practice a specific religion or any religion at all. So why are we still using one religion’s beliefs to oppress millions of people?

As long as men (not just men but old, white, wealthy, Christian, heterosexual men) hold the vast majority of political office, the rest of the population is never going to be heard. This is clear since there were three women on the Supreme Court, all of whom agreed that an employer’s belief should not infringe on the employee’s rights, but were outnumbered.

Just because someone is female, LGBT, non-Christian, a person of color, middle or lower class, young, or anything else that deviates from the political standard should not mean they deserve less rights or have their rights decided by someone who does not fully represent their population. Until our government fully reflects the American population, we will never reach equality.

And, thusly, I shall leave you with this sentiment that I (for the most part) hold dear to my heart:

– X