Use Birth Control? You're Fired!

[pokerfan]

ACLU Blog of Rights on the Arizona bill...

First, a bill that gives immunity to doctors who lie to couples about the results of their prenatal tests in order to prevent them from getting an abortion. Now, a bill that would give your boss the green light to fire you for using birth control. You think I am kidding? I wish. For a decade now, Arizona insurance companies have been required to provide coverage for contraception just like other prescriptions. But, because they saw an opening to score some political points, some politicians there are suddenly moving to take that coverage away from women and their families.

Sadly, that isn’t even the half of it. You may want to sit down for this one. Arizona legislators know that whether or not her insurance covers it, a woman may get the prescription she needs to prevent an unintended pregnancy. They want to give her boss the right to control that too. The bill they are pushing would not only allow employers to take the insurance coverage away, but it would also make it easier for an employer who finds out that his employee uses birth control to fire her. You heard me right . . . to fire her. And I thought Rush Limbaugh’s comments were as low as you could go on this one.

http://www.aclu.org/blog/reproductive-freedom/use-birth-control-youre-fired

[Skittles]

1. where is the info to the actual proposed bill?

[appleannie1]

3. On Thursday, House Bill 2625 passed the Arizona House

[muriel_volestrangler]

13. I think this is what was passed by the House:

http://www.votesmart.org/static/billtext/38588.pdf

Starting at page 8, there's a section 'Z' that used to read (in struck-through red) that a religious employer could get an exemption. It's been replaced by a section in blue capitals, saying any employer (or insurer) can leave out contraception if they say it's against their religious beliefs. And while the old section ended "a religious employer shall not discriminate against an employee who independently chooses to obtain insurance coverage or prescriptions for contraceptives from another source", there's no such prohibition of discrimination in the new section. There are similar sections further on - for different forms of insurance coverage, I think.

To add insult to injury, if a woman is prescribed birth control pills for non-birth control reasons, the woman has to pay for them herself first, get a written explanation from the doctor that the prescription is not even in part for birth control, and persuade the corporation to reimburse her - and the corporation is allowed to charge an administrative fee for this!

[Zalatix]

2. Wait a second, how does this NOT violate the FEDERAL law known as HIPAA?

[appleannie1]

4. The Catholic Church is pushing the bill. It passed the House and went to the Senate.

The Arizona Catholic Conference, the lobbying arm of the state's bishops, and the Center for Arizona Policy, a conservative religious-rights advocacy group, are pushing to make Arizona the third state in the nation to offer such exemptions.

"It's an important religious-liberty issue," Arizona Catholic Conference Executive Director Ron Johnson said. "It's not right for the government to come in and coerce religious organizations and people of faith to violate their conscience with regard to contraception."

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/politics/articles/2012/02/29/20120229arizona-senate-mull-birth-control.html#ixzz1owt3yCJu

But it has been extended to include employers that are Catholic or do not believe in birth control

[pokerfan]

7. Yeah, remember that whole argument

that even if they aren't directly funding birth control through insurance, they still believe that they are funding it indirectly if one of their employees decides to use their own money to purchase contraception? Well, this is it. Look for this to pop up soon in the U.S, House as a response to Obama's compromise. After all, your employer who pays your salary should have a say in how you spend it.

[Arugula Latte]

9. How I despise the Catholic Church.

Few institutions in the history of the world have brought so much pain and misery and suffering to others.

[SomethingFishy]

5. How does an employer get medical records?

I thought they were bound by privacy laws.

[neverforget]

6. Republicans are all about controlling people, mainly women. Small government my ass.

[Aerows]

8. Any questions about the real agenda here?

We've been saying for years that abortion was never about abortion, and this bit about birth control really isn't about birth control either. The goal is for women to "learn their place" and get out of the work force.

[appleannie1]

16. Get back to the only things that women are meant to do. Wait on men by day & serve them by night.

[Aerows]

17. Exactly

That's what all of this shit has been about from the beginning.

[pokerfan]

10. How long before we see this?

[longship]

11. Somebody with Net resources needs to collate these bills

Put up a Web site that will be a one stop visit for everybody to see exactly what's happening because I'm not sure this is getting through to the public from print, TV, and radio media. And I know of no site that's doing this.

[kestrel91316]

12. They used to fire women who got pregnant. They can't do that anymore,

so THIS is what they do.

The christofascists know no bounds.

[sarcasmo]

14. People taking us back to the stone ages thanks to religious bullshit.

[toddwv]

15. Catholic Sharia Law...

Anyone?

[Dawson Leery]

18. That damn church has never accepted the enlightenment.

Nor the loss of their empire. If the Roman Church, along with the Born Agains want to be involved in politics, their tax exempt status MUST BE REVOKED IMMEDIATELY!

[felix_numinous]

19. Women have to fight this shit all over again

well they want a fight they will get one.