The evangelical campaign against birth control is really about Obama

[DonViejo]

For three decades, the anti-contraception movement failed to catch on with evangelicals. That changed in 2011

ROB SHRYOCK, ALTERNET

On July 19, 2011, a report released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommended that all American women be provided with free contraception. Catholic charities were immediately in an uproar, knowing that this would like result in a provision for free contraception as part of the recently-passed Affordable Care Act.

In addition to Catholic institutions, evangelical organizations were also sounding the alarm bells. “Yet another untruth about Obamacare has been uncovered,” said Richard Land, head of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, on July 20. “HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has recommended mandatory coverage for ‘emergency contraception,’ which is a euphemism for the morning-after pill, which often kills a newly conceived child by not allowing the embryo to implant on the wall of the mother’s womb.”

Land’s strong words mark the first major evangelical objection to the contraception mandate. By the Spring of 2012, evangelicals were the only major religious group where a majority opposed the mandate, according to a Public Religion Research Institute Poll. But the evangelical anti-contraception-mandate movement didn’t gain widespread attention until Hobby Lobby filed a lawsuit against Sebelius, announced in September 2012. Hobby Lobby founder David Green argued that his company was founded on pro-life Christian principles, and thus should be exempt from the mandate. “Being Christians, we don’t pay for drugs that might cause abortions. Which means that we don’t cover emergency contraception, the morning-after pill or the week-after pill. We believe doing so might end a life after the moment of conception, something that is contrary to our most important beliefs.”

The Hobby Lobby lawsuit encouraged other evangelicals to join the battle against the mandate. Lawsuits opposing the mandate, which had previously been filed mainly by Catholic groups, were now being filed by evangelical businesses and universities. Evangelical publishing giant Tyndale House sued Sebelius, followed by three Baptist universities, The American Family Association, and Guidestone Financial Resources (which provides health insurance to Southern Baptist Convention employees.)

more
http://www.salon.com/2014/01/16/the_evangelical_campaign_against_birth_control_is_really_about_obama_partner/