Providing Contraception Protects Religious Freedom and Human Life

Religious-affiliated businesses are not exempt from the Health Care Reform laws requirement that health insurance plans cover contraceptives.  Both Michigan Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak and House Speaker John Boehner oppose this requirement.  Speaker Boehner even went as far as to accuse the President of attacking religious freedom.  Both of these politicians are clearly wrong.  The law does not prohibit the free exercise of any religion as required by the U.S. Constitution (there isn’t any biblical (Christian) admonition against the use of birth control).  Also, some Hindus, believe producing more children than can be supported is a violation of the Ahimsa (nonviolent rule of conduct).  The church is not being required to provide this insurance and the people are not being forced to take the contraception. This ruling is about public hospitals and universities that are required to hire without discrimination and should be required to provide insurance without discrimination. This is not about religion unless these institutions only served Catholics.  If they hire a single non Catholic, or admit a single non Catholic, then they are public and subject to public standards.  Taxpayer money shouldn’t go to any religious run healthcare facility that doesn’t provide contraception which is part of the reason they receive government funding. The contraception requirement is in fact Constitutional (“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion”)

The birth control requirement protects human life and prevents abortions.  The lifetime risk of dying from an unsafe abortion in the developed world is 1 in 3,700 procedures.  Numerous studies show that use of effective modern contraception reduces unintended pregnancies and abortions.  The abortion rate in the United States dropped 8 percent between 2000 and 2008, while rising nearly 18 percent among the country's poorest women.  Of the more than 1.2 million legal abortions reported in 2008, women whose family income fell below the national poverty level accounted for 42 percent of them.  "…it's possible women have reduced access to contraception and have more unintended pregnancies," says Rachel Jones, senior research associate at New York City's Guttmacher Institute and lead author of the report published Monday in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.

An Overview of President Obama’s Character

President Obama has proposed ideas of a balanced approach that give both conservatives and liberals what they want whilst considering the needs of the majority of Americans.  For instance to solve the deficit problem he has proposed three dollars of budget cuts for every one dollar of increased taxes on the wealthy.  President Obama has proven himself to be an intelligent leader who is also open-minded.

Last December President Obama was criticized by his own party because he chose to extend the Bush tax credits to ensure that millions of Americans who are out of work would continue to get their unemployment benefits.  President Obama chose the option that benefited him the least politically so that Americans already suffering including our veterans would have enough money to feed their families until they can get jobs.  It takes clarity to not be blinded by your own future ambitions but instead to pay attention to the current job at hand.

President Obama has dealt with discrimination, questions of his identity and criticism of his leadership; yet he has conducted himself in a dignified manner before and throughout his presidency.  The following are examples of how he has faced adversity since becoming President of the U.S.

The following Facebook post quote by Failed Tea Party candidate Jules Manson shows how the President has chosen to ignore the horrible racist things people say about him and his family and focus on his job as President: “It must be countered with assassinations onto them and their children,” and ”Assassinate the f—-n (N-word) and his monkey children.” 

Only a strong person could endure this kind of abuse and still put policies in place that will benefit all Americans including those who terrorize him. 

During Obama‘s health care address to Congress in 2009, U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, a South Carolina Republican, yelled out to Obama, ‘you lie,’  Most people would have yelled back at Rep. Wilson but not President Obama.

Rush Limbaugh seems to be questioning President Obama’s identity as an American in the following quote:  “Obama is “more African in his roots than he is American” and is “behaving like an African colonial despot”

If we were to decide if one were American based on racial ancestry none of us would be American except for those of Native American descent.  America is a nation of immigrants.

Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn criticized The President’s policies, comparing them to a “tar baby.”  The expression has come to be widely considered a racist term to describe Black Americans.

The way the President handled the Gulf Oil spill in 2010 was another example of his character, President Obama didn’t say I told you so; instead he put his efforts into solving the problem. The President planned and executed the recovery from the 2007 thru 2009 recession despite the fact the recession began over a year before he was elected our President.

Aware that our Navy Seals were engaged in the capture and execution of bin Laden, Obama went about his routine without showing signs of stress, anguish, or discomfort. His schedule during this time included dealing with the “birther business,” an appearance on Oprah, a visit to flood-torn Alabama, and a much anticipated and widely viewed presentation before the White House Correspondents’ Association.  The President has proven himself a strong, competent and classy commander in chief who has exhibited “grace under pressure”.

 President Obama’s family values are more apparent than any other candidate.  He loves his wife and is involved in his children’s lives and protects his family.  He is the best role model for American men to follow.

President Obama has brought honor to all Americans in the way he has conducted himself in other countries.  He has represented The United States well and I am sure almost no one sees Americans as rude, gluttonous, or dumb anymore.  Some of the character traits that represent President Obama and thus the American People are the following: respectful, graceful, strong, classy, charitable, competent, affable, open-minded, cool, dignified, intelligent, and clear-minded.