GOT QUESTIONS
Keep your uterus away from my wallet!
By S. Michael Houdmann, Got Questions Ministries
The issue is not truly about birth control or access to birth control. The owners of Hobby Lobby are perfectly willing to provide 16 of the 20 types of birth control required by the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). The only ones the owners of Hobby Lobby object to are the ones that are designed to destroy a fertilized egg in addition to preventing an egg from becoming fertilized.
Even further, the decision does not prevent any woman from having access to those four types of birth control. All the owners of Hobby Lobby are saying is that they are not willing to pay for them. Abortion violates their moral convictions, so they cannot, in good conscience, pay for birth control methods that cause abortions. That is the true issue here. It is not about access to abortifacient birth control. It is about who pays for abortifacient birth control.
Asking people who believe abortion is a horrible moral evil to pay for abortifacient birth control is like asking Greenpeace to fund whale hunting expeditions or like asking members of PETA to fund a puppy slaughter house in Korea. I believe that from the moment of conception, a human being created in the image of God exists inside a woman's womb. I believe that to terminate a human life inside the womb is murder. See "What does the Bible say about abortion?". According to the laws of the USA, and most other countries in the world, women are allowed to abort their babies. That is bad enough. Please stop trying to force me to pay for it.
What does the Bible say about birth control? Should Christians use birth control? Simply put, the Bible consistently presents having children as a good and desirable thing. The one instance in which a birth control method is used (see Genesis 38), it was used for selfish reasons, and God was not pleased (to say the least). In contrast, having children is presented as a very good thing. Psalm 127:3-5 says, "Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from Him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them." But again, this issue is not truly about birth control.
While I do not agree with the Catholic Church's (and some other religious groups') objection to all forms of birth control, I entirely support the right to not have to pay for something you morally object to. If a Jehovah's Witness does not want to pay for a blood transfusion, he/she shouldn't have to. If a Christian Scientist doesn't want to pay for health insurance at all, he/she shouldn't have to. If you happen to work for a Jehovah's Witness or a Christian Scientist and object to his/her convictions — get a different job! If you object to the convictions of the owners of Hobby Lobby and you work there, quit. If you don't work there, protest by shopping elsewhere. Novel concept, I know!
As much as I hate abortion, I cannot stop anyone from having one. There is little to nothing I can do to stop the 1,000,000+ abortions per year just as there is little to nothing I can to do stop the 15,000+ other murders per year. I think abortion should be illegal except in the extremely rare instances when the life of the mother is genuinely at grave risk. But, that is not the law of the land. Accepting that there is nothing I can legally do to stop abortion is one thing. Submitting to paying for something that I object to with every fiber of my being is another thing entirely.
If you want an abortion, whether at a clinic or through abortifacient birth control, that is your decision. Just as it was your decision to have sex in the first place (see the P.S. below). Stop trying to get me to cover the costs resulting from your poor decisions. Pay for it yourself or get one of the pro-abortion organizations to pay for it.
While you incorrectly claim that I am trying to force my convictions on you (by refusing to pay for your abortifacient birth control), you are in actuality trying to force me to violate my convictions. You are trying to force me to pay for, what is to me, the murder of a baby. To me, this is no different than you forcing me to pay for you to hire a hitman to murder someone.
P.S. In instances of rape, I still do not think abortion is the right solution. But, there is a plethora of organizations that will provide abortifacient birth control free of charge to a victim of rape.
P.P.S. On a lighter note, I am not a fan of shopping at Hobby Lobby. It is pretty much the only store my wife goes to at which I will wait in the car instead of going in. I once, while purchasing one item, had to wait in line behind a woman who purchased 1,643 pieces of construction paper and 27,854 stickers, each of which had to be rung up separately, for a grand total of $4.82.
Tags: Controversial-Issues | Current-Issues | Health-Wellness | Political-Issues | Womens-Issues
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Published 7-6-2014
