…as the dumbest state in the union? First Joe Arpaio, then their xenophobic anti-immigrant laws, and now Arizona is working on a law that will allow employers to question employees about their reasons for wanting birth control, and to fire them if it was for actual reproductive planning reasons.
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 6-2 Monday to endorse a controversial bill that would allow Arizona employers the right to deny health insurance coverage for contraceptives based on religious objections.
Arizona House Bill 2625, authored by Majority Whip Debbie Lesko, R-Glendale, would permit employers to ask their employees for proof of medical prescription if they seek contraceptives for non-reproductive purposes, such as hormone control or acne treatment. (source)
The argument is that employers don’t feel like they should have to subsidize what they feel is “immoral” behavior.
Supporters claim that employers have a First Amendment right to their faith, and some cults mandate that premarital sex is wrong. But, this is a twisted view of the First Amendment. As an employer, I have every right to internally hate Jews, if I want to. But, I don’t have a right to use my First Amendment rights to put up nazi propaganda posters in the workplace.
As a social issue, I think that the more people on birth control, the better. I think that birth control should be goddamned mandatory, and you have to pass a test to get off of it.
On another level, I agree with the employers – but I think that it should be illegal for employers to offer health benefits. Losing your job should not mean you lose your benefits. I’m all for socialized health insurance. Maybe if the Republicans could get their tongues out of the insurance companies’ asses and let that get through, we’d have both a better health care system, and this wouldn’t be an issue.
