The Supreme Court Is Not Inhibiting A Woman's Access To Contraception

In the wake of this morning’s Supreme Court ruling on Obamacare’s contraception mandate, the narrative coming from the left suggests that a woman’s right to access contraception is under attack.

Senator Elizabeth Warren accuses SCOTUS of denying women access to basic care:

Rep. Nancy Pelosi argues that the ruling was a “step against the rights of women.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says the Supreme Court should “stop deciding what happens to women.”

The problem with this argument is that it supposes women cannot access contraception unless their employers pay for it, which is ridiculous. As Alito wrote in the SCOTUS ruling, women still have access to all FDA-approved contraceptive measures. They just don’t necessarily get to share the cost of that contraception with an employer.

If we are to believe that a failure to subsidize something denies us access to it, then are we to believe that employers who do not subsidize ammunition purchases are denying employees their 2nd amendment rights? Should businesses be required to provide rosary beads and prayer rugs lest they be accused of denying employees access to their 1st amendment rights to religious freedom?

Believing that the Supreme Court has denied women anything means buying into a bizarro world notion that women can only access something like contraception when someone else pays for it.

Which, I must say, speaks to a rather low opinion of women generally.

The rallying cry of the protesters in favor of this mandate say that their bosses shouldn’t get a say in their health care, but these are the same people demanding that their health care be the responsibility of their bosses, an irony Washingtin Examiner columnist Tim Carney picked up on outside the Supreme Court this morning:

Hobby Lobby’s lawyer – a woman, no less – made that exact point to CNN shortly after the ruling. The CNN reporter says those protesting the ruling just want their employers to stay out of their business. To which Lori Windham points out that Hobby Lobby would love to stay out of their business, but the federal government unfortunately tried to make it otherwise.

CNN: We heard the demonstrators today saying, “Look, the employers should stay out of our business,” that this decision will now essentially bring the employer into what should be a very private decision-making process between a woman and her doctor, now that the justices ruled that Hobby Lobby no longer has to cover four types of contraception. What do you have to say to the other side?

WINDHAM: Hobby Lobby would love to stay out of this, and leave this decision to a woman and her doctor. It’s the federal government that told them that they had to be involved and cover these things, even though they violated the Green family’s faith.

I think the bottom line is this: If you don’t want your employer to have a say in your health care, stop depending on your employer for health care.