Left Side of the Aisle #89 - Part 2

Good news: SCOTUS refuses to enjoin requirement for coverage of contraceptive care

Another bit of good news comes from an unusual source: the US Supreme Court, which recently has been far more frequently a source of bad news and clownishness.

The new health care law - that inadequate pastiche that yes will help some but will also delay any chance of actual universal access to health care for another couple of decades or more - includes a provision requiring employers to provide health insurance coverage for contraceptives as part of the overall health coverage they offer.

Bear in mind that the controversy about this - it still boggles the mind that access to contraception should be controversial; Margaret Sanger must be turning over in her grave and Bill Baird must despair - but bear in mind that the controversy about this resulted in a compromise under which the employers would not bear the cost of covering contraceptives. No matter, the right wing fanatics and the pseudo-Christian wackos have been trying to get the provision killed altogether, because, they say, it's a violation of their religious freedom - the freedom, that is, to impose their beliefs on their employees.

Two businesses challenging the act - a nationwide chain of stores called Hobby Lobby and Mardel, a chain of Christian bookstores - are suing in federal court to overturn the requirement. While the legal battle continues, they wanted the Supreme Court to put a temporary hold on the law, which went into effect on January 1.

Last Wednesday, December 26, the court refused to grant the injunction. A small bit of good news and I suppose a sort of negative good news as it refers to something not done as opposed to something done, but these days you take what you can get.

Sources:
http://womenshistory.about.com/od/sangermargaret/p/margaret_sanger.htm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/09/bill-baird-birth-control-abortion_n_1411886.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Baird_%28activist%29
http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/26/16171443-supreme-court-declines-to-block-provision-covering-contraceptives-in-health-care-law