President Barack Obama’s right-hand man, Josh Earnest, is a few days into his job as the White House press secretary and he’s already failed to live up to his last name. Earnest declared the Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of Hobby Lobby “jeopardizes the health of women.”
As a young American woman, due to my age and gender, Earnest claims that I am in the “market” for federally-subsidized birth control. Well, I’d like to dismantle Earnest’s fallacious assertion. The Supreme Court’s ruling is a major win for female equality as well as women's physical and professional health. Here are the facts:
Hobby Lobby Case Background
To refresh your memory, Hobby Lobby is a company that an entrepreneur named David Green founded in his garage 40 years ago. Green now employs 16,000 full-time employees in 41 of the 50 states. He offers generous wages and benefits, including a strong health care package.
So, he’s already caring for his employees — who freely choose to work for him, by the way. Yet the Obama Administration expected him to pay a fine if he did not also subsidize drugs and devices that can destroy embryos such as Ella, Plan B and certain IUDs — in violation of his First Amendment right to publicly express his faith.
AP
Obamacare would have required that Green take irrational steps to practice his faith, such as stripping his employees of his wonderful health care package. After pulling his healthcare plan, Green would also have needed to pay an annual fee to the federal government of $2,000 per employee.
Green faced the decision between violating his faith and paying fines that could have been used to hire more women or offer his existing females staffers promotions so that they could invest in their health as they saw fit. Over 15 percent of millennial women are unemployed. I'm quite certain they could use a job far more than a patch!
Thankfully, the Supreme Court sided with the majority of Americans who tell Rasmussen Reports they disapprove of the Obamacare mandate and ruled 5-4 on Monday that Green may continue to offer his employees a healthcare package that is consistent with his right to free speech.
Freedom is Key to Women’s Equality and Physical Health
Women are not walking uteruses. Women are dignified human beings with reason, spirit and individuality. The Constitution already considers American women with respect to their humanity and citizenship, not their sexuality. Obamacare is incapable of defending female “rights” or equality because it does so by trampling on First and Tenth Amendment rights — which every woman needs if she desires freedom and equality.
Many young women do not realize this, but Obamacare was passed without the input of medical professionals. As I expose in my new book, “Let Me Be Clear,” Obamacare drives a wedge between a woman’s intimate relationship with her doctor.
Only drug companies, lobbyists and insurance companies had a say in the crafting of Obamacare; which is why nearly 90 percent of the doctors and surgeons who I interviewed for my book said that Obamacare will negatively impact the healthcare of millennials — including young women. There are solutions for improving women’s healthcare, which doctors shared with me for my book, but the solutions don’t involve trampling on the Constitution.
Furthermore, TIME Magazine reports that modern birth control is not fail-proof, yet Obamacare sends a false message that it is. The average fail rate for shots is 6 percent. The average fail rate for both the ring and the patch is 9 percent. TIME also reported last fall that the morning-after pill “may not work for women over 176 pounds,” which is interesting given that the typical American woman weighs 166 pounds. IUDS can “cause heavy or painful periods and in very rare cases can perforate the uterus.”
These facts were all culled from TIME, mind you, not a religious organization.
AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki
Women must be free to make their own personal decisions regarding their reproductive health rather than be compelled by the federal government to subsidize a plan that hundreds of doctors have told me will drive a wedge between women and the personal relationship they have with their doctor.
The Constitution protects our human dignity and equality. We don’t need more federal laws; we need to elect politicians who will enforce the Constitution and ask for the input of medical professionals. Young women (and men) should take control of their health and immediately opt out of Obamacare, which I explain how to do in “Let Me Be Clear.”
Freedom is Vital to Women’s Professional Health
By ruling in favor of the First Amendment, the Supreme Court also ruled in favor of women’s professional health.
A new survey by Deloitte shows that 70 percent of millennials (including young women like me) aspire to become entrepreneurs. That means, young women have a vested interest in the Supreme Court’s ruling which will make it far easier for them to start businesses in their garages and become successful entrepreneurs like David Green and Steve Jobs. When young women can devote their time to building, innovating, and hiring—rather expending their energy and and monetary resources to jump through legislative hoops — they will have a far easier time becoming entrepreneurs.
On behalf of young women everywhere, three cheers for the Supreme Court!
You can learn more about free market solutions to improving healthcare for all Americans in Kieffer's new book, "Let Me Be Clear" which is now available at Barnes & Noble stores everywhere.
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