High profile Democrats are not impressed with the
predictably horrible Supreme Court’s decision to give corporations
“religious freedom” to avoid laws. The ranking members of the Ways and
Means, Energy and Commerce, and Education and the Workforce Committees
today issued statements in response to the Supreme Court decision in the
case of Burwell v. Hobby Lobby:
Rep. Sander Levin notes that this is a dangerous
precedent, “Today’s Supreme Court ruling undermines a woman’s right to
make health decisions that are best for her and her family. This ruling
not only limits a woman’s access to contraception, it also makes
employees of private corporations vulnerable to discrimination when
their employer says that the employee’s rights conflict with their
religious beliefs. This is a dangerous precedent to set.”
Rep. Henry Waxman notes that a for profit
corporation should not have the right to limit women’s access
healthcare, “The Court has said that fictional corporations that exist
only on paper have more rights than real people who have real
health-care needs. It’s one more radical judicial step in making it
better to be a corporation than a person. It is particularly offensive
that the Court does this in a decision that is so personal for a woman:
her decision to have or not have children. For-profit corporations, no
matter the size and structure, should not have the right to limit their
female employees access to safe, legal, and critically important health
care services. We must continue to forcefully oppose efforts to roll
back women’s rights to make their own health care decisions and work to
make sure all Americans have access to the preventive health services
they need.”
Rep. George Miller said SCOTUS just took us
backward, “In passing the Affordable Care Act, we were very clear: when
it comes to health care, women can no longer be discriminated against,
charged more, or denied services simply because of their gender. As a
result, the ACA is the most significant piece of legislation for women’s
health that this country has seen in decades. The law has broadened
access to health care and contraception so that women, not their bosses
or insurance companies, can make their own choices about their health
care. Today’s Supreme Court decision is another backwards-looking and
unwarranted attack on women’s access to health care.”
Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA), Ranking Member of
the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, is also troubled by the SCOTUS
ruling. He points out that it perpetuates the myth that corporations are
people, “I am greatly troubled by today’s Supreme Court decision in the
Hobby Lobby contraceptive case. Today’s ruling jeopardizes women’s
access to crucial health services and perpetuates the myth that
corporations are people. This decision directly contradicts the values
of a majority of Americans who believe that women – not corporations –
should be in charge of their own health care. Today’s ruling could allow
employers not only to impose their religious beliefs about
contraception on their employees, but could also allow them in the
future to take away other crucial benefits, like vaccinations or HIV
screenings. The same Court that decided Citizens United has – with
today’s ruling – moved further down the dangerous path of placing
decisions that greatly affect Americans’ lives in the hands of
corporations. I strongly disagree with today’s ruling and I will
continue to fight for a woman’s right to make her own choices about her
health.”
The repugicans are giving Democrats an easy platform
full of bumper sticker slogans heretofore unseen by Democrats. Between
Boehner’s threatened lawsuit to impeach the President and SCOTUS taking
away women’s rights to healthcare, the wingnut 'movement' is handing
Democrats easy ways to motivate their base and raise funds.
Boehner’s lawsuit has already raised a million dollars for Democrats. House Democrats raised a 2014 record $584,000 in 24 hours.
And now Democrats can run on the fact that if they
controlled Congress, they could rewrite a law to fix this laughable
SCOTUS decision.
No comments:
Post a Comment