PORTLAND, Maine — More than 100 people rallied Friday outside a federal courthouse to protest the Obama administration’s mandate on contraception in health care plans.
The event was part of a day of rallies in 140 cities across the country organized by those who view the mandate as an assault on religious freedom.
Controversy has swirled since the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in January announced it would require most employers to include birth control in their health insurance plans under President Barack Obama’s federal health reform law.
Houses of worship are exempt from the mandate. Institutions with religious affiliations that serve the public and employ people of diverse backgrounds, including Catholic hospitals and schools, are not.
Outside the U.S. District Court on Federal Street, the Rev. Paul Dumais of Bridgton told the crowd that the government’s overreach was an affront to Catholic beliefs.
“For the present administration to strike at the heart of a Catholic conscience ought to, and in fact has, sent shock waves throughout this great country,” he said.
The mandate has infuriated Catholic leadership in the United States, who say their objections are about much more than birth control. The mandate threatens the religious liberty afforded under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, they say.
“I stand with you today against this tyranny and for freedom,” Ken Graves, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel in Orrington, told rally attendees.
He later led the group in a chorus of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” pulling a leather Bible from a holster on his belt and raising it before the crowd.
Supporters of the mandate frame it as a women’s health issue. Some have argued that denying women access to contraception while providing other preventive health services under the federal health reform law amounts to discrimination.
Since the January announcement, the Obama administration has softened its stance on the mandate, saying insurance companies would foot the bill for contraception when employers object.
The anti-abortion groups that organized Friday’s nationwide rallies argue that the administration’s stance still forces some employers to provide contraception against their will.
In Portland, Episcopal groups, the Christian Civic League and the conservative Concerned Women for America participated in the rally, among others. Attendees waved signs reading “Stand up for religious freedom,” “Keep your body out of my wallet” and “Obama — No We Can’t. What’s Next?”
Rally participant Mary Jo Daigle of Arundel said the birth control mandate was a “guise,” and worried that other Catholic beliefs, such as opposition to euthanasia, could be the government’s next target.
“We’ve always had the freedom to live our religion as we see fit under the Constitution,” she said.
The rally concluded with the crowd singing “God Bless America.”
Free pills and condoms for everyone! It’s a right..just like speech, assembly, religion…
lol..silly liberals
Have you ever used a condom so you did not get a woman pregnant?
Before aids that was their main use ! I the 60’s kids who didn’t use them were often married before graduation.
The fewer like him there are around the better off we all are.A woman who gets an abortion is a heroine as are her health care providers who are risking their lives everyday!
cheaper to pay for pills/condoms than more children on the welfare roles.
Who is asking for “free pills and condoms”? Silly TeaNuts.
Birth control pills and condoms are already free at Planned Parenthood. They also fund a certain percentage of abortions. They fund approximately 300,000 of the 1.2 million abortions performed in the United States yearly.
So, we should maintian, support, and stop attacking Plannned Parenthood, right?
The angst comes into play because taxpayers realize that their tax money is funding abortions via planned parenthood. Taxpayers are not supposed to be on the hook for funding these abortions. That’s why there is a national controversy over PP services. It is anathema for Catholics (who pay taxes) but there are millions more Americans who are opposed to PP funds (taxes) paying for abortions who are not Catholic.
By law, Federal funding cannot be allocated for abortions, but some opponents of abortion have argued that allocating money to Planned Parenthood for the provision of other medical services “frees up” funds to be re-allocated for abortion.
I’m not opposed to PP providing “the pill” to impoverished women. I oppose the killing of the unborn, much less having to pay for the practice with my taxes.
Just like when the Catholic Church, and many other religious institutions accept government funds for schools, it frees up money for purely religious purposes. I do not want my money going to pay for teaching people Christianity, or Islam or Judaism.
What you have is a notion that you are allowed to fund only what you believe in when you pay taxes. That is a recent phenomena pushed by a Tea Party wing of the Republican Party. Do you know what we used to call that? Nutcases. They were the ones who argued that income taxes are illegal, and that they had a right to withhold part of their taxes if they didn’t agree with the program. Every single case they brought to court, they lost. Every single time. They had the same legal success as the nutjobs who are still suing about the presidential birth certificate thing. A lot of the same people I suspect.
Thank you.
This is not true. PP has not and does not use government funding for abortions. In fact abortions are 3% of PP’s services and they are done thru referrals. PP does not perform abortions. What you say here are GOP lies. There is a national ‘controversy’ because ugly right wingers have created it. That gives me angst.
Of course you are entitled to your beliefs. Perhaps you do not know that abortions are legal. That is settled law. You do not have the right to deny others their rights. And you do not have the right to have your tax dollars used only for what you approve.
“PP does not perform abortions” really, that is not what their website says. Do you wish to contact them to correct their statement?
No, I wish to correct my statement. I went and saw for myself and you are correct, they do offer abortions at some of their clinics. I say good for them. They are helping women who need the help. In any case abortion is still legal and the 3% is accurate. Thanx.
I oppose the killing of the already born, yet my tax dollars go towards wars. I oppose my tax dollars going towards bailing out bankers who raped our system. I oppose my tax dollars going towards prisons that house non violent marijuana smokers. I oppose my tax dollars going towards states that have the death penalty.
Where does the list end?
3% of PP’s services are abortion. There is already a law that states tax dollars can not be used for abortions. Ever use PP before? I have. PP here in the Rockland area does not perform abortions. They refer out. They provide low cost/free birth control in several different forms. They provide low cost/free health screenings for women and men.
Speaking of silly … (and exageration)
How did they find 100 Obama dissenters in Portland?
the church had to bus them in, just like their money to fight equal marriage rights.
http://www.ditchthepill.org/
your website is a crock of doo doo.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/pill/peopleevents/e_lib.html
and again…every medication has some form of side effect. It’s all falls under the category of personal choice. Don’t want to be pregnant? Then you have choices, from pills to condoms to IUD’s and other medical devices. I don’t find any of this to be “big pharma” to be controlling my life. As for the argument of “men controlling my life” I don’t find it to be that either. More men are in the medical profession, that is correct. Women were held back their whole lives, by men, and we are making strides in the scientific and medical communities.
“a leather Bible”?
That’s got to be a large heavy Bible unless the print is very tiny. I think a “leather bound Bible” is what my teacher would have expected to see. Ruler across the knuckles.
http://www.ditchthepill.org/
Big crowd in attendance.
Your employer can’t tell you how to spend your salary. Why, then, would your boss have any business whatsoever telling you what your health insurance — which is just another element of your compensation — should cover? What these protestors see as incursions on the religious freedom of the employer is actually a freedom for employees.
And covering birth control lowers health care costs, since it’s far cheaper than covering pregnancy and childbirth. That’s why insurance companies are quite happy with the requirement that it’s including in coverage.
LOL….like most people, you miss completely the intent of insurance in general
why are suppsedly ‘educated’ people such as yourself so willfully ignorant of the sham and facade you are perpetuating?
The “intent of insurance”. Tell us what you think that is please.
She is a respected political scientist who knows what she’s talking about.You’re not.
Do you have a point here ? What pray tell is the sham ?
There’s a new pill that cures cancer coming out next week, but the Government has mandated that anyone over 65 is not allowed to receive this pill. Just trying to lower healthcare cost for everyone and the insurance companies are quite happy with the requirement. …………..Most “Bosses” pay for a large part of your insurance and they bargain with the insurance company’s not the Federal Government.
Medicare and VA run at about a 3-5% overhead.Insurance cos. profit is in the hundreds of millions of $$ every year and the law had to be written to force them to provide minimal patient care.
Medicare pays providers less than the cost of delivering care to their insured. This underpayment is made up by the rest of us with commercial insurance. Nice gig if you can get it, but what happens when all of us need a subsidy as Obamacare will underpay as well? Can you say rationing, boys and girls?
We already have rationing.It’s called insurance denials.I had to fight a company in 2010 over a relatively small amount(under $1,300)It took a year and two appeals to get the claims paid.Meanwhile their profits have skyrocketed and their CEO (who does no patient care)got tens of millions.
In Az. the R’s have passed a bill that requires women employees to answer their boss’s question as to why they are using birth control. If the boss doesn’t like the answer the employee gives him then they could be fired.
This is the wonderful R’s keeping government out of our lives!!!!!!!!!!!
What hypocrites they only want gov. out if it is not their idea.
I can see their point. But, if we allow them to exclude birth control from their insurance plans, then lets do away with religious holidays.
why not do away with religion and health insurance in general?
both merely placeholders in the grand scheme of human evolution…
Why don’t you hang on to your religion and I’ll retain my health insurance?
I hope that you meant this to be funny, it sure made me laugh.
AND start taxing the churches who are meddling in politics where they have no business.
I wish these people so against contraception would put thier money where thier mouth is and do more to help people take care or kids. Oh wait these are the same people who condoned pedophile priest What do you expect from them.
Catholics have never condoned pedophile priests. Those priests behaved despicably, and Catholics know it. Most of those abusers should never have become priests in the first place. A large number of them were gay plants who were trying to infiltrate the Church to get it to change its teachings on sexuality. The fact that leading their flocks to salvation was not their first priority really showed up in a terrible way.
the CC shuffled their priests from church to church for decades, hiding them from prosecution while the abuse continued.
“Gay plants”? …..
“Gay plants”??? That’s a new one, to me at least. How long has that propaganda been spouted by Catholics?
it’s the first time I’ve seen it posted here.
Gay plants”??? = Pansies!
pansies are very pretty spring plants
At least he/she does acknowledge the pedophiles and the harm they caused.I’ve seen others say the priests were demonized and too much attention was focused on them.I ask you this-find me 100 non priest pedophiles vs. 100 priest ones and see how the sentences compare.
http://www.ditchthepill.org/
http:/ditchcriticalthinking.org/
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/pill/peopleevents/e_lib.html
Hey genius, as far as I know, Gay men are not Pedophiles. Look it up, there is tons of info availible on the subject. Welcome to the 21st centery. “Gay Plants” HaHaHa!
Oh puhlease.
If the Catholic Church does not condone predators in the church, why are they trying so hard to hide evidence in the on-going trial in Philadelphia? Why is it that they found a memo written by the previous Archbishop (who dies the day after being called for questioning) telling the bishops of the diocese to shred the letters about the priests who were known to have molested young people? When the State of Penn. asked for any evidence about other memos like that, they have been met with silence and a cadre of lawyers saying that that information was privileged?
The Catholic Church has yet to accept responsibility for the crimes it committed. If they really wanted to fess up and put this thing behind them, they would expose the leaders who are still in power, still protecting aberrant priests. The scandal is not about “gay plants”, no matter how hard you want to believe it.
And add Penn State to that list as well as Weakland in WI,Law in MA and thousands more worldwide.Everyone who gave the CC a dime is complicit.
Oh here come the crazy right wing conspiracy theories. “Plants”? Oh give us a break. Please go sell crazy somewhere else.
Cue theme from “Twilight Zone.”
hahahaha! WOW!
The Catholic Church IGNORED these horrendous abuses for decades. Plants ? Wake up !
They didn’t ignore them-they just thought with all their money they could keep it quiet.I wonder how many people whose lives were ruined by these dirt bags committed suicide and were never able to give testimony.Few priests went to jail-FAR fewer than should have.The media also covered up the story or reported it with CC bias.
Sure they did. I never saw anything in the media (this newspaper included) that did not have a strong pro Catholic bias. You get the Pinocchio award of the day. It might even be better than “every woman who has an abortion is a heroine.”
You are right! Let us punish Catholics for covering this up. Let us force them to provide contraceptives and wear a yellow star on their coats saying “Catholic”
You are so correct, that is a great argument to force them to pay for contraceptive that go against their religion.
If you are against contraception then don’t use it, that is your right. If you are against abortions then don’t have one, that too is your right. Just because your insurance company provides contraception coverage it doesn’t mean you have to use it, that is your right. For those who need contraception for any reason why not allow them the choice to use it or not?
A very well thought out reply. I agree whole heartedly.
They have always had the choice to use contraception (which I support).
It’s the question of who’s to pay for it that bothers people (not just Catholics). These type things add up, influencing that oh so important bottom line for ins companies. They in turn just spread the cost to ALL rate payers.
Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Ma. doesn’t cover Viagra for ED, so why should they cover contraception? Aren’t they both used only for the ‘fun of bumping uglies’?
It’s just another small encroachment of the ever-growing entitlements and gov’t mandates adding to the huge pile we already have.
Insurance policies that cover childbirth almost always cover contraception. there is no additional cost for the contraception part. Please read you own policy and see how much just the contraception part costs…. you won’t find it.
Actually what drives up the cost of reproductive care is the childbirth parts. One difficult birth can run into the 100s of thousands of dollars. Our last child was born more than 20 yrs ago, and the costs were about 10 thousand dollars. So from an insurers point of view, it is the person who chooses to have a child that drives up the cost, not the person who takes the pill.
Furthermore, if you are really worried about mandates, send a letter to the Republicans in Virginia who mandated an unneeded invasive medical procedure for women exercising their rights, and forces them to pay for it. the crocodile tears coming from the right on this issue make me want to vomit, (like Rick Santorum says about a Kennedy speech separating church and gov’t.)
My daughter was $25k, 5 years ago. Yes I had a c-section, only because she wasn’t coming out after 24 hours of labor, they had to do it. C-sections are on the rise too.
Most insurance policies cover Viagra and vasectomies, and no one is out there beating a right wing drum to stop those from being covered. The right wingers are in the dark ages, and most Americans use and support contraception coverage. Most religious people use and support contraception, which for women is more about just preventing pregnancy. It is about their overall health, and contraception in many cases is used for other reproductive health issues and not just pregnancy prevention. (Indeed, right winger should be lauding contraception as it prevents abortions which they don’t like. Of course they hate the kids once they are born and write them off as riffraff, but that’s another argument.) And these Catholic hospitals and others hire many non Catholic and non religious workers, and they have no right to deny those workers contraception. Nontheless, a very fair compromise has been ordered, so enough of the radical right wing nuttery. In fact, many reasonable religious groups have actually endorsed the fair compromise on this issue which is a major league LOSER for the right wing and their War On Women. The GOP has turned into radical right wing TeaNutLand, and they are going get pounded good and hard in November.
It’s too bad that Obama even gave Dolan and his fools any ground.Now they think they are entitled to more.Get all your friends and family to vote and do whatever you can against the RW lies.Your point about them hating kids is perfect.The only people who care about kids are pro choicers and independents.Anti choicers love billboards and microphones.
Thanks for inspiring me. Great arguments.
Men use viagra for only one reason. Birth control is used for many reasons other than to prevent pregnancies. You are of the assumption that women using birth control use it for the latter reason.
Viagra is a cardiac medication found to have this other use, much like your reference to BC pills (foams, condoms and diaphragms not included here which have no other purpose), or Chantix being advertised all over TV as a stop smoking aid and is really nothing more than a recycled antidepressant with a new name. From my experience, insurance will not pay for Viagra unless it’s for the old ticker (medically necessary).
Hope this helps you.
Your experience is rare as MOST insurance covers viagra and its cousins, which btw are NOT prescribed for heart disease. (Even medicare and medicaid pay for them. Or at least they did last time I checked. ) They were drugs being tested as such when it was found that they were better at making boners than fixing your heart. Although related drugs are used I think for actual heart related problems.
I guess a $1200.00 dollar a month policy from BC/BS of Ma. isn’t “MOST” then. And a person I know on Medicare (also in Ma.) tells me it doesn’t either. I wonder why so many magazines and late nite TV ads have discount ED pills if they’re free?….
Viagra is a VERY closely related drug to the cardiac version, just as the aforementioned Chantix is actually a failed antidepressant known as Wellbutrin with a bit of tinkering.
We could go on for days about this, but I try to conserve ones and zeroes.
“We speak in generalities, but live in the details”.
The Pill has several other medical uses than prevention of pregnancy 9including regulation of the cycle to promote fertility). As for it’s use to prevent pregnancy, duh! So what? A valid use (unless you have an archiac, outmoded, incorrect meaning of “original sin”).
Well duh! I was replying to JayC. Please try to keep up by reading the whole thing. Context, ya know?
Viagra is an essentially useless, ‘recreational’ medication. Birth control actually has other medical uses, such as reducing acne and pmdd.
You are reading my comment out of context. It was a reply to JayC.
http://truthaboutbirthcontrol.com/
Why is everyone so into Big Pharm, they are controlling your life.
Viagra is not a useless medication. Many men do suffer from ED. Sex is an essential part of our well being. Studies have shown that those that have a regular sex life, are healthier and happier than those who don’t. However, for many, it has turned into a recreational drug, and is sold illegally. Not much different than any other meds that hit the black market ie: Oxycontin and other types of pain meds.
If the cost is really your concern, it is much more cost effective to include this coverage.
The government forcing people to pay insurance companies to provide coverage for contraception is as much a right as forcing us to accept the marriage of gay or lesbian couples ! Please feel free to point that out to me in the U.S. Constitution. You do have the right to remain silent if you choose.
Ron White said it best about being drunk”I had the right to remain silent but I didn’t have the ability.”
TPers cannot read or understand the Constitution.Only educated people can.You lose.
How high an education does one need? I only have a HS degree, and I know the constitution. One only needs to be able to read, and comprehend what they are reading. It doesn’t require any higher education. It’s the willfully ignorant that are the problem, and I know plenty of people with a higher education that fall into that category.
Slippery slope on “willfully ignorant”. Yeah, we all can read the Constituion, but it’s interpretation has been going on for the duration of existence (note the tons of case law developed by people with more than a HS education). Just like the Bible, it was written for a specific culture and population, both of which have changed greatly for both documents.
Or the same forcing us to accept phony christian fascism. If Jesus came back tomorrow christians would call him a socialist and kill him again.
Not to mention he would be appalled at the misuse of His name and deeds.
The Obama Administration forcing policy holders to pay for contraceptives is incorrect. Contraceptive options are not costly. Any woman who can’t afford $9.00 – $15.00 a month for the pill can and has been going to Planned Parenthood, where they provide “the pill” for free.
What this HHS and current Administratrion is mandating Insurance Companies pay for is the provision of “Birth Control” (which includes contraceptives) which goes way beyond the pill. Birth control, as well as incuding “the pill” also covers the morning after pill and the week after pill (a·bortifacients) and 1st, 2nd and 3rd trimester abortions. Under Obamacare, all of these choices fall under a huge umbrella titled “Women’s Health.”
When the killing of the unborn goes against an individual’s conscience or an organization’s philosophy and tenets, they will now, as policy holders, be required to pay for these services via their premiums.
Gee, advocating use of Planned Parenthood? Kudos, but that will get you disowned.
Disowned ? ….by whom?
Disowned? for the 2nd time…..disowned by whom?
Fourteenth Amendment:
Text of Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution;
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Since the state of marriage is a LEGAL construct and certain rights and privileges are conferred by entering into that state the Fourteenth Amendment should, without argument allow anyone to marry anyone. It should also allow any American who has health insurance as mandated by the federal government to have the same access to all coverage as any other citizen, regardless of the religious beliefs of some.
First of all, no one is forcing people to pay insurance companies for contraception coverage. It is forcing insurance companies to cover women’s health. In doing so the companies actually save money, but do not let that reality stand in the way of your ugly prejudices. You need not ‘accept’ anything that you do not wish to ‘accept’, but you do not have the right to deny others their legal rights.
I was just wondering are you a Rush Limbaugh fan?
His drug use makes me think he’s a little to liberal for me !
You seem to know more about him then some of us conservatives who are busy working and can’t listen to him.
No one is saying people can’t have contraception. All they need to do is practice personal responsibility & purchase it for themselves. For the pill, it’s approximately $9.00 a month at Walmart. People spend much more than that for many non-essentials.
depends on the pill. Not everyone can take the same BCP because of side effects or medical conditions.
http://truthaboutbirthcontrol.com/
I agree 100 percent. That said GIVE US THE SAME CHOICE!! If we do not want omama care then let us opt out of it and leave us be. O wait if you let all those who do not want it opt out who would pay for it!!!!
Why not just supply BC to liberals for free?
Imagine the money we would eventually save.
And the headaches.
Imagine if the right Wingers took their own advice and moved. “America, love it or leave it” is their best line. They are whining about how it has been destroyed, but they only want the others to move. Well, guess what? I’m fairly happy here. Why don’t they quit whining and take their own advice.
For those who want to go to a paradise where unions are weak, women’s rights are curtailed, gasoline is cheap and you don’t have to listen to dissent, buy a one way ticket to Iran. The religious authorities aren’t bothered with mandates. The pill is not mandated in health insurance. Liberals do not pollute their airways. Sounds like heaven for a Tea Party brother for sure.
It is not free. Policy holders pay for it AND insurance companies make a profit from it.
And once again the arguement for the Public Option is made. You just gotta love it when the obvious arguement is made but no one want’s to admit it !
They should have been singing Monty Python’s “Every Sperm is Sacred”.
These people supposedly care so much about religous freedom…..but don’t seem to care at all about individual freedom. That seems awfully puzzling to me ?
Religious freedom is one of the MOST fundamental aspects of individual freedom.
They only care about THEIR “religious freedom”; not anybody else’s, religious or otherwise.
Better believe it. If it were Muslims or Jews who were having problems with insurance, the Wingers would be crying about how the Muslims and Jews have to conform and how Christianity was under attack.
Covering contraception does not for one second impose on anyone’s religious freedom. If they don’t like contraception, they don’t have to use it. Simple as that. These religious organizations have no right to hire non religious workers then impose their religious views on their health coverage. Still, a fair compromise has been reached. These 100 radicals are just that, and they are in the dark ages.
It does if you coerce the Health Care Provider to provide goods or services that go against their conscience.
The patient has the right to see whomever they prefer to see. They need to exercise that right.
Not when it comes at the expense of individual freedom !!! That would be known as a Theocracy not a Democracy !!!
It isn’t at the expense of individual freedom. No one is denying you the right to anything.
Having the Government legally allowing religous groups to dictate what is covered under a health insurance policy is not denying individual freedom ? You can’t possibly be trying to tell me that this not a case of extending religous rights at the cost of individual rights. Wow !
You really don’t get it, do you?
It is an issue of conscience. You cannot coerce someone do do something against their conscience.
No one is denying anyone contraception. Access has never been better, or cheaper.
And the “conscience clause” doesn’t deny a woman her legal right to access legal medication or treatment?LIES.Anyone who isn’t willing to help ALL who seek help needs to get out of the medical field.Pure violation of the Hippocratic oath as well as the laws.
You need to educate yourself about what the Hippocratic Oath is.
No one is denying anyone, anything.
Patients have rights. So do health care providers. They are not compelled to treat every patient, or a patient’s every need.
Actually, the Oath of Hippocrates specifically, very specifically, forbids the provision of abortions by doctors. It is a pity that many doctors today have forgotten that. Still looking for proof about the accepting of federal funds, though.
Tell me….. How does it feel to let a Religion make your own personal decisions for you ? I guess it must be easy not having to use your own brain to think things out ? Why think about things when you can let someone else decide what is right or wrong ? Now let me ask you a question…….Do you think it is fair for all American citizens to be forced into your own personal religous beliefs….whether they believe in them or not ? That is exactly what the Republicans are selling as “Religous Freedom” !!! Don’t be fooled my friend, don’t be fooled !
If you want a theocracy vote for Rick.
I would just as soon cut my brain out…before I would cast a vote for Santorum
If you do the first,it leads to the second.
Amen!
Thanks:)
LOL…I suspect the cut your brain out part wouldn’t take too long.
I would suspect that you don’t have one to cut out. LOL
That’s not a clever comeback. Can’t you think up something more imaginative than that?
In that case I guess you must not be too clever…… as it was your comeback my friend ! I was only “parroting” it back at ya! Maybe next time you can come up with something a little more imaginative.
Anti-abortion groups also have an issue with contraception being covered by insurance…wow.
To be expected. Predicted, correctly, for some time now.
America’s Most Biblically-Hostile U. S. President
Listed in chronological order are (1) numerous records of his attacks on Biblical persons or organizations; (2) examples of the hostility toward Biblical faith that have become evident in the past three years in the Obama-led military; (3) a listing of his open attacks on Biblical values; and finally (4) a listing of numerous incidents of his preferential deference for Islam’s activities and positions, including letting his Islamic advisors guide and influence his hostility toward people of Biblical faith.
http://www.wallbuilders.com/LIBissuesArticles.asp?id=106938
Well, what else would you expect from a Kenyan-born Socialist Muslim Facist Communist radical black Christian racist who was educated by Al-Qaeda and by ayatollahs in a madrasa for Chrisake?
Or something like that.
You forgot “anti-white”. LOL
Marxist!
I hear he is still hiding Hillary’s alien baby in the White House.
That was Elvis’s Son!
LOL All we need now is the url to post here.
LOL
I hope readers will click on that link to see the lies and distortions of American history promoted by the right wing bible thumpers. Any one interested should also look up the founder, David Barton, and comments by other ministers on his promotion of falsehoods. A little research reveals how far the right wing nuts will go to try to convince the ignorant.
Not to mention the shakedown that immediately follows.It’s worked for a long time.Remember PT Barnum”There’s a sucker born every minute”
At least they made it out of the womb. There are 1130 abortions daily in the U.S. That’s only 310 less per minute than those suckers you refer to….who have the chance to breath the air and see the light of day.
Thank you for posting this link it truly brings to light how completly off the wall this bunch of crazy lying Bible thumping scoundrels are. You people are what this country should be worried about, not our President.
Intolerance and bigotry. Nice.
Totally intolerant of those who hold up the Bible and lie and fabricate issues. The problem is, their unholy alliance with the Extreme Right. Couple extreme rightwing drivel with extreme Christian dogma and you got yourself a fascist group that can do no wrong. Disagree with their horse crap you’re disagreeing with God. This crew has sealed their own simple minded fate, I have no sympathy for any of them.
And true.
Amen
That’s your specialty and that of those at this gathering.BVDR speaks the truth and speaks it well.
Extreme hyperbole. To be expected from extremists?
they really are such hypocrites. I mean when they allow all of the pedophile priests to be arrested and put in jail, they could have credibility, but then they would have to answer for the pregnant nuns who had abortions… and when they are done with that… wow they have generations of stuff to answer for.. people in glass house should know better than to throw stones
I like the Jimmy Swaggart and Pat Robertson types better, they seem so much more sincere don’t you think?
Pregnant nuns having abortions? Really? Isn’t that a bit salacious to post without posting some proof? Not one case or 2 from 50 years ago, but something to show it was widespread and recent.
it doesn’t take much more than a search on Google. Priests that have been abusing nuns, nuns that have been raped….yeah, it’s true, and it’s recent.
Let out the potheads and put in the priests.You’d need a LOT more jails.
Wow. They make Bible holsters.
Who knew?
Wow a whole hundred…. Probably not a viable ova or working gonad in the group. What we really need it to start taxing these religious cults there is nothing in the Constitution about being tax exempt. They want to get involved in politics then they should be taxed. AMEN!!
Actually they need to be taxed HEAVILY and barred from politics.
Dictator issues, much?
“Free” birth control is a lie. Whoever pays for an insurance policy is covered. Don’t want to use birth control? Don’t use it. No one is forcing anyone to use it. We are a civil society, not a religious one. Again, don’t want to use birth control, don’t use it. It is a personnal choice. I do not want some religious outfit ordering me around.
You are correct!
All that is defined is what is covered under a ( Purchased) Comprehensive Plan.
Don’t these people have a soldier’s funeral to interrupt somewhere?
Insurance paying for birth control? Not while we’re living in the dark ages!
Nothing more thn the Gummint stucking its head into places it shouldnt be. If you dont like this wait till Barrycare kicks in
Yawn.
You will be doing alot of Yawning sitting in the waiting room. You will be yearning for the days when it only took 5 hours to get into see the doctor.
It seems a tad crazy to proclaim the sanctity of life followed by the Battle Hymn of the Republic. I’m supprised the 100 strong march didn’t have an open carry as well. The women in this march should be more concerned about the rights the Republican Party is trying to take from them.
The women are the worst of the bunch.They are traitors to their gender as well as ignorant.
It’s truly amazing how women and those who consider themselves Christian’s can be affiliated with what the Republican Party has become.
Good going right wingers. Just keep up your War On Women and keep trying to re-fight the culture wars of the 50’s and 60’s. I love it. It is going to ensure that you are soundly CRUSHED at the voting booth in November. What bunch of radical TeaNuts. They are TOAST in November.
Please keep your “religious” beliefs personal and to yourself. Nobody is “forcing” you to do anything other than have health insurance.
You don’t have the right to force people to have health insurance.
Don’t you have Social Security? Do you pay income taxes? What’s the difference? Doesn’t it seem better to have a system that is formally set up to pay the medical expenses of people who can’t get insurance on their own? Is your solution the same as Bush’s, that those without medical insurance are covered by some “miracle”?
No, it doesn’t “seem better”. It is unconstitutional.
We will see about that. If you were not coming from an ignorant right winged position you would see that since everyone needs healthcare that they should contribute. If they do not when they need care the rest of us wind up paying for their care. Did you know that far and away the reason for bankruptcies is from illnesses.
Ah, the ” ignorant” insult.
The crutch of the ignorant.
No need of crutches for me yet. Guess this is not the first time someone has noticed your lack of information.
That would be true of each and every one of their posts.We need an exemption that prevents hospitals from treating TPers.
There’s a reasonable mind!
Good to see folks are protesting the President. A lot of posts focus on birthcontrol/contraception issues. Its about Religious Freedom.
No, it is about the Church imposing it’s dogma.
How exactly is it imposing it on you?
By lobbying to remove lawful protections in the name of their beliefs.
Lawful protections?
Contraception? That contraception is a lawful protection is a stretch, but they aren’t lobbying against contraception.
They are lobbying against being coerced to pay/provide something against their conscience.
Conscience is a right.
Again you are displaying your ignorance and confusion. Talk about ‘stretches’. I think you will be dismayed when the Court rules. I do not see a reason for this conversation to continue.
Of course you don’t (see a reason for this conversation to continue) — you have nothing to offer to it other than insults. Sign of a weak, defensive mind.
A radical right wing nut group, plain and simple. They need to go sell their crazy nonsense somewhere else.
100 people out of a population of 1.4M.The rest of us have jobs and lives.BDN shouldn’t waste time and ink on the ignorance shown with this tiny bunch of idiots.When Obamacare passes the court challenge they shouldn’t participate if they don’t like it.They’re just bleeding decent honest Mainers.
“Religious freedom” does not include trying to force other people to obey a particular religion . . .
Who is forcing? Can you not get your contraception? Do you need a map and someone to hold your hand, too?
This isn’t about contraception. This is about saying no to everyone who wants free stuff.
Eh? Statistics show that providing coverage for birth control *lowers* the cost of health care, and thus the cost of health insurance.
Forcing women to pay extra for contraception is an economic hammer driving a religious agenda. A religious belief which the woman, by definition, does not accept.
What statistics show has no bearing on the constitutional issue.
No one is forcing women to pay extra. Access to contraception has never been greater.
And ps and btw, contraception is the responsibility of both partners. Men need to step up to the plate. It is not the taxpayers job to alleviate their responsibility in this.
You raised the issue of “free stuff.” In this case, it is “negative cost stuff.”
Doesn’t matter if it creates rainbows. Not the issue.
Yes, bayview10 is very shifty.
Well said.
Nope.
This is ridiculous, The mandate says the insurance company or employer has to pay for the stuff if it isn’t covered by the insurance. Fine it does not say women must take it.. I don’t understand what the commotion is about.. If some GOP Teanut wrote the bill it would of been approved and passed by now without question.. These are hard times and the Government wants to help people save money and the idiots are out there protesting it.. Do they not understand what they read? No one is forcing anybody to take the drug just telling the insurance companies that they have to pay for it if the woman wants or needs it for other medical reasons.. My ex wife was on it since 15 years old it wasn’t so she could have sex and not get pregnant it was for medical reasons that i as a man don’t understand but it had something to do with her irregular period.. And the pain she had when she had it.. And back then insurance all ready paid for it.. No one makes a stink about that though do they? And Viagra an ed drug is not covered by Blue Cross Blue Shield any longer.. I have them for a medicare supplement and they don’t pay for it anymore since like 5 years ago.. I was on a low dose of it as a blood thinner due to my heart problems.. Now im on Plavix and that they pay for.. It was explained to me back then that they wouldn’t pay for viagra because sex offenders were taking it and sexually offending minors and raping women and such.. So the insurance companies stopped paying for it.. Ok fine but this is dumb to go against this mandate, that is all ready practiced by most insurance companies in the first place.. Far be it that the Government under President Obama wants to save the people that are not covered through their insurance policy to be covered.. Why is it that every thing this president wants to accomplish is so wrong and fought about.. People say he has not accomplished anything, well take a step back and do the research, every thing he has tried to accomplish the GOP said no to and fought him every step of the way.. They said they would do this if they controlled the house and they kept their promise.. So now people are saying he has not accomplished anything.. Research if any other president has had this happen to him? I bet you will find that Obama bills have been challenged by the GOP and the people more so than any other president in history.. Why? Cause he is trying to save the tax payer money? Under his insurance plan my medigap would be far less than 500 a month and im all for this but the GOP is denying it saying it would be more.. Ask your self wouldn’t you like to have medical insurance and pay reasonable rates? Most people pay top dollar for medical insurance i myself would be happy to pay half of what i pay now.. Wouldn’t you?
Yes, the GOP lies.
…..
I believe people should have the right to use contraceptives but I also think others have the right not to pay for it. Frankly, from what I have read, about a 1/3 of Planned Parenthood is funded by the government. We are already paying for it. Looking at it that way…if an employer does not want to provide insurance for contraceptives based on their religious beliefs the employees have alternatives.
pound your bible where the sun don’t shine
Intolerance and bigotry. Nice.
This is not about the “pill”. It’s about the “vote”.
Why don’t they just come up with plans that include it and plans that don’t and allow the purchaser of the plan to decide. There is obviously a market for plans with birth control and without, let the market decide, otherwise if all plans are required to provide “X” amount of services the cost of plans is going to be pretty much the same at the various levels.
Exactly.
Then you’ll have bombings and shootings at the insurance companies that provide BC.Anti choicers will stop at nothing.
99% of Catholics use contraception.
Birth control definition includes late term abortions and killing babies who have survived a botched abortion.
“A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-fearing and pious. On the other hand, they do less easily move against him, believing that he has the gods on his side.” Aristotle
Vieled implication of the current President? Never could figure why The Church subscribed to the thinking of that heathen.
I was actually referring to those of your mindset and the tyranny evident from Romney & the gang….and by the way, when did “The Church” start running our country?
I have a right to freedom from your religion.
You have it. Stay out of the Church.
How about the Church staying out of OUR lives ! No one elected them to anything.
Is the Church in your life? Um, no.
Believe what you will, but what you say is not so. The Catholic Church is sticking it’s nose in the laws of the United States, so yes, as a citizen of this country they are imposing their dogma into my life.
Sticking it’s nose in? They are protecting their constitutional rights.
Obama is the one “sticking his nose in”, to use your words. Obama is the one who edited a communication from the Bishop to his followers in a place of worship. We have separation of Church and State, and we also have separation of State and Church.
No one has to work for a Catholic organization, attend a catholic health care facility, or school. If the services/benefits don’t meet the employees/student’s/patient’s needs they have every right to go somewhere else, and they need to.
My faith and church is. So don’t try to worm into my life with theocratic policies.
Actually, many are leaving “The Church” to go elsewhere. And the majority of Christians contiue to worship in churches with much more meaningful (and theologically accurate) beliefs and actions.
HEAR HEAR!And the largest growth of religion in America is “unaffiliated”49% of Americans would vote for a qualified atheist.Think of all the problems that would solve.
The location of ‘Freedom of Religion’ is not defined.
You know, by realizing that’s the type of “christian” that would populate heaven, only reinforces my conviction and satisfaction in being an atheist.
Does anyone on here work at St. Joseph and if so do they provide for contraceptions in their health coverage?
Just curious.
These people who don’t want insurance to cover contraceptives are the same people who want to defund Planned Parenthood & provide fewer social services to families. What’s a poor woman to do?
“More than 100 people rallied Friday outside a federal courthouse to
protest the Obama administration’s mandate on contraception in health
care plans.”
No. People rallied to protest Obama’s mandate that tramples the 1rst Amendment.
Here’s the skinny kids. Contraception was covered by your health insurance for the last couple of decades or so…by law. And no one, not even the Catholics said a damned word. It wasn’t until a black man was uppity enough to mandate a kind of, sort of, health care reform for all, even though its not, that anyone said a thing. And those anyone’s were the ultra right wing “Christian” conservatives who have tried to block every single thing this president has done from day one. Even when the things he proposes are taken directly from the GOP proposition play book of the past GOP presidents.
Now why do you suppose that is?
BTW, since all the money paid into your insurance plan is NOT kept separate from all other insurance plans it makes not an iota of difference what you have to say about paying for contraception. YOU ALREADY HAVE!! FOR YEARS!!
What’s that you say? Baa-aaa-aaaa, baa-aaa-aaa-aaa-aaa
They’re kidding no one, everyone knows this is nothing more than a right wing hit job except the crazys who support it.
Why don’t these ‘religious’ women protest this ?
Religious institutions have constitutional protections, but they are not above the law. Unfortunately, that has not stopped the Roman Catholic Church and other religious groups from arguing that the First Amendment shields them from civil lawsuits for negligent supervision and retention of employees who sexually abuse children.Most state courts that have considered the issue have rejected this claim by churches, recognizing that holding religious employers liable for failure to monitor employees in sex-abuse cases does not interfere with constitutionally protected religious freedoms.However, courts in Missouri, Wisconsin and Utah have twisted the First Amendment into a shield for organizational liability for pedophile clergy. In an outrageous case, a Missouri appellate court summarily dismissed a negligence case brought against the Archdiocese of St. Louis by an individual who said he had been abused by a priest. His suit charged the archdiocese with negligent failure to supervise the priest, who had a past record of child sexual abuse. The court threw out the complaint, saying that Missouri law does not allow it because judging the supervision of the priest would require inquiry into religious doctrine, which it contends would violate the First Amendment.This bizarre conclusion would grant churches a special exemption from neutral, generally applicable laws designed to protect children. The United States Supreme Court now has an opportunity to reverse this erroneous interpretation of the Constitution. The justices should grant the plaintiff’s petition for review, which they are scheduled to consider on Friday.Since some 20 states have not ruled on this issue, the Supreme Court can provide urgently needed clarity. It should firmly declare that the First Amendment does not exempt religious entities from accountability for exposing children to harm.
Thanks for the update.Visit ffrf.org(Freedom From Religion Foundation)Great people doing great work.
Yes, thank you. It is a wonderful group.
If you wanna have sex pay for your own rubbers they are not that expensive.geesh
Overly simplistic and you know it.
Episcopal groups? Must be the wanna-be Anglicans (who won’t ordain women). Conserned Women for America are obviously misnamed since they’re obviously conservative.
I propose that anyone, especially women, who speak out against contraception take the pledge that they have never used contrception. Only then can they logically and sincerely oppose contraception.
This isn’t just a women’s health issue, it’s a family and therefore a public health issue. Some may be in opposition for religious reasons but those reasons are arcane illogic and invalid. It still amazes me that any significant number of women oppose contraception.
Whatever happened to the separation of church and state? If a man/woman works for a religious organization and doesn’t share their views on social issues such as abortion or gay marriage then find employment elsewhere. That is your right. It is a religious organization after all. If I send my child to a muslim school that requires that sisters wear a hijab to cover their heads but I don’t agree with it then why am I sending them there in the first place?
Just another group of religious idiots.
If we could actually use our tax dollars for what we wished a lot of things dear to the nut jobs would fold faster than a tent in a hurricane.They’ve hijacked hundreds of millions of our tax dollars for things like earmarks for creation museums.No bigger waste of money EVER.
Maybe the same buses that Charlie hid?
A CONSERVATIVE legal scholar stated that he expects the SC to rule for ObamaCare by 6-3 and it could be as high as 8-1.Of course Clarence Thomas is in the pockets of the bag men no matter what.