The Hobby Lobby Stages of Grief: Stage 2, Anger

Have you recovered from last week’s brutal Hobby Lobby opinion yet? I haven’t. According to the Kübler-Ross model of grief, I am still only at stage 2: anger.

And you know what? I’m not okay with reaching acceptance.

So what if I’ve become my own version of Howard Beale. You and I both understand why: It’s because we know it’s completely unacceptable that, with its decision, the Supreme Court has now sanctioned discrimination against women under the guise of religious liberty.

Thankfully, I’m not the only one who’s still angry.

Lawmakers who expressed their outrage the day of the Hobby Lobby decision have swiftly put their words to action to ensure that women have access to contraception. Today Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.), along with 35 of their colleagues, introduced the Protect Women’s Health from Corporate Interference Act.

The bill aims to bar employers from using their religious beliefs to deny their employees and their dependents coverage for contraception or any other health service guaranteed by federal law. Just in case employers try to wiggle their way out of this requirement, the bill states that federal law, including the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, doesn’t permit employers to refuse to comply. Here’s something else important to stress: This requirement still doesn’t apply to houses of worship and religiously affiliated non-profits.

Get angry – as if you’re not already – and tell Congress to quickly pass the Protect Women’s Health from Corporate Interference Act. Let them know that while we all have the right to our religious beliefs, we don’t have the right to impose those beliefs on others.

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