So it has been about three weeks since President Donald J. Trump has been inaugurated. And it has been an…interesting..few weeks to say the least. There has been the immigration executive order (#MuslinBan), the shutdown of particular scientific agency's Twitter accounts and their ability to publish updates about the scientific community, a new Supreme Court justice nominee, and now, the draft of the “Religious Freedom” executive order.
Yes, you read that correctly. The order has not been passed yet, but a draft was leaked to the Huffington Post and an article was posted on February 2 about it
And it’s actually slightly terrifying.
The executive order would seem to allow both individual people and organizations to discriminate against people based on sexual orientation if it “violate[s] their conscience.”
Other than that language being ridiculously broad, it means people and organizations, including employers, can now deny contraceptive and abortion coverage to their employees. That means same sex couples could be discriminated against when it comes to adopting a child. That means religious organizations who believe in only traditional marriage, and all it entails, are still tax-exempt.
I get it, there are some people who think that the “gay agenda” is an attack on their rights and an attack on Christianity. And I understand that there are those who do not think God looks kindly on those who are not heterosexual, or those who use birth control or get an abortion. I do understand that.
But at the same time…why is it anyone else’s business but mine? If you believe God will hate me because I am a lesbian, or use birth control, or get an abortion, okay, that’s fine. Then pray for me. You are entitled to that right to believe that.
But, ultimately, the discussion or issue or problem is between God and myself, isn’t it? So why should it be my employer’s business what I do in my personal life? It’s health care.
I know there is an argument that says it is not health care, and that my employer is worried about helping me commit a sin. Alright, that’s all warranted. But here’s what I think.
It is health care. Many women take birth control for a number of reasons, not just because they want to have sex without fear of having a baby they do not want. A lot of women take it to regulate their periods. Our periods are part of our health. Having an irregular one is an absolute nightmare—it never comes at the same time every month, hormones are all over the place, and it’s just overall really awful. Birth control regulates your hormones, which means it regulates your period, which is good thing. If my period is regular, that usually means I’m healthy.
Abortion can also be health care. If I’m raped, and am now pregnant, I should be able to make a decision of whether or not I want to do with my body. Something terrible and traumatic just happened to me. Should I really be forced to keep something that will forever remind me of that? Or if my pregnancy is killing me, and an abortion is the only way I will be sure to live, isn’t that health care? That’s like emergency surgery, which, last I checked, is health care.
As for not helping someone else commit a sin, remember that God loves everyone, and if you go to Confession and confess your sins, you are forgiven and all is well (at least, that’s what the Catholic Church teaches, and what most Christians faiths follow). God is supposed to be a loving God, right? And if that is the case and what we truly believe, won’t he forgive us if we confess and recant? I think so.
I get it that people feel threatened by all of this change. Our culture and society is changing so fast in such a short time. It’s probably scary and disorienting to a lot of people. And that’s okay.
What’s not okay is trying to force other people to conform to a religion they don’t believe in, which is what this order will do. If I am an employer, I am still free to worship and act and believe however I want to within my religion. If I am worried about something, I can pray about it and find solace in my faith and community. But if I am a woman who needs birth control, or if my partner and I are being denied the ability to adopt a child because of the beliefs of people who hate who I am because of what their religion tells them, isn’t that making me conform to a faith I don’t believe in, without another option to act? If I need an abortion, I can’t just go pray about it. If I want to adopt a child with my partner and I am denied because of who I love, praying about it won’t really help anything.
You are free to believe in whatever you want to. But you are not free to make others believe in it. Disagree, but do not deny people rights because of it. That’s not what my America, what our America, believes in.
