Your Opinion: Response on health care and religion

Dear Editor:

I am writing in response to the letter submitted by Francis Butel regarding SB749. I do not believe that our governor should sign this proposed legislation nor do not feel that our religious freedom is being threatened by current health care legislation. Far from it. The health care industry is being made to standardize core care for the American people.

The Bill of Rights guarantees us freedom of worship. It does not guarantee us freedom of insurance. The bigger issue here is, frankly, money. This is business, Big Money business. These faith-based health care groups wish to make their own rules and squawk that folks' First Amendment rights are being trampled when they are required to follow rules every other health care group must follow, all the while quietly taking their profits to the bank.

And I stand with the representative from the AFL/CIO. Yes, women can get contraceptives. The point is all health care insurance should cover this without a copay for all women. This does not require any woman to take the medicine, just to have it offered to her without a copay in a similar way as to how health insurance covers ED. But anyone giving even cursory attention to this subject knows that we would not even be having this conversation if the medication in question was Viagra.

And as far as the coalition of clergy referenced by Butel I frankly don't think that argument holds much water. For those of us who remember our propaganda studies from high school English know "149 religious leaders are opposed" is not a reliable reason. Remember nine of ten doctors said to take medication X? Who are these reliable folks that we should trust their judgment as being somehow superior to our own? Also our governor should consider the e-mails sent to him on this subject from his constituents. The News Tribune reported recently that messages on this subject being sent to him are two to one against the bill.

To me this issue should be low on our list of priorities. When I think of our young kids serving overseas so we can even have this conversation.

I would really like for their sacrifice to be over a whole lot more than whether or not a woman can get help with her copay for birth control pills.