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If the Government Requires You to Pay for Emily’s Abortion, Will You?

Not through your taxes, but out of your budget. Or your business budget. This past January the department of Health and Human Services in essence told Chris Catholic, You must pay Eric Insurance so that he will in turn pay for Emily Employee’s contraception and morning-after abortion-inducing pills. Otherwise you will pay a fine. This is the greatest attack on religious liberty in my lifetime.

Not through your taxes, but out of your budget. Or your business budget. This past January the department of Health and Human Services in essence told Chris Catholic, You must pay Eric Insurance so that he will in turn pay for Emily Employee’s contraception and morning-after abortion-inducing pills. Otherwise you will pay a fine. This is the greatest attack on religious liberty in my lifetime.

After a firestorm of outrage this week the current administration amended their directive:

So…now Chris Catholic will send Emily a letter telling her that he is paying Eric Insurance to pay for her health services, which will not include contraception and morning after pills.

But Emily will receive another letter, this one from Eric Insurance, telling her that she will indeed get contraception and morning after pills for free. However, to cover the costs of these “free” services, Eric Insurance will make Chris Catholic pay more for his premiums.

That is…IF Chris Catholic heads up a Catholic hospital or school. If Chris runs a private business, he will still have to pay Eric to pay for Susie’s morning after pills. Or pay a fine.

And thankfully this is not OK with a lot of people. Because the constitution says nothing about making Chris pay Eric for Emily’s pills. But it does forbid the government from violating Chris’ freedom of religious conviction, commanding him to pay for something that he believes God forbids.

I am not in any way saying that our government is becoming like the government of Nazi Germany. But it is instructive to note that one of the first moves the Nazis made to bring the German church under its control  was a little one: no more Jews could apply to study at Christian Seminaries.

But if you were already a seminarian or a pastor who was a converted Jew you could continue. Until you couldn’t. And until many of the seminaries were closed and all new Christian books had to be approved by the Nazis. It all happened so incrementally, Just one little thing and then another.

And most people went with the flow. And the more things changed the more it seemed “unrealistic” to do otherwise. It just “wasn’t that big a deal.” Until it was.

The president and his advisors should rescind this HHS mandate. And I hope that we the people will raise our voices in protest and not shrug this off as no big deal.

If not….whatever…let’s just go to the mall and buy something.

Lael writes and speaks about faith and culture and how God renews our vision and desire for Him and his Kingdom. She earned a master's degree (MAT) in the history of ideas from the University of Texas at Dallas, and has taught Western culture and apologetics at secular and Christian schools and colleges. Her long-term experience with rheumatoid arthritis and being a pastor’s wife has deepened her desire to minister to the whole person—mind, heart, soul and spirit. Lael has co-hosted a talk radio program, The Things That Matter Most, on secular stations in Houston and Dallas about what we believe and why we believe it with guests as diverse as Dr. Deepak Chopra, atheist Sam Harris and VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer. (Programs are archived on the website.) Lael has authored four books, including a March 2011 soft paper edition of A Faith and Culture Devotional (now titled Faith and Culture: A Guide to a Culture Shaped by Faith), Godsight, and Worldproofing Your Kids. Lael’s writing has also been featured in Focus on the Family and World magazines, and she has appeared on many national radio and television programs. Lael and her husband, Jack, now make their home in South Carolina.

One Comment

  • Monica876

    Thank you Lael!

    Lael,  Wonderful post.  Atrocious truth in the workings of our government and religous liberties.  "If Our God if for us then you can ever stop us?!"  Praying Christians stand up, be bold, and be heard on this issue.