Pope Francis: It's Selfish Not To Have Kids

Via NPR:

Pope Francis said that couples who opt not to have children are being "selfish" as he spoke of a "greedy generation" that's choosing not to procreate. The pontiff's remarks come just weeks after he seemed to send a contradictory message, telling Catholics that they don't need to breed "like rabbits." Speaking at his general audience in St. Peter's Square on Wednesday, Francis talked on the joy of children and their importance in society, at one point reminiscing about his own mother. "A society with a greedy generation, that doesn't want to surround itself with children, that considers them above all worrisome, a weight, a risk, is a depressed society," the pope said. "The choice to not have children is selfish. Life rejuvenates and acquires energy when it multiplies: It is enriched, not impoverished."

Don't breed like rabbits! Surround yourself with children! Norman, coordinate!

Pope Francis To Reporters: Catholics Don't Need To Breed Like Rabbits

Vatican Might OK Contraception

An advisor close to Pope Francis has dropped hints that the Vatican may be close to allowing the use of contraception without eternal damnation (or whatever the penalty is.)

Cardinal Walter Kasper said it was “the responsibility of the parents” to decide how many children they should have. He also said that so-called natural family planning, which is promoted by the Church as an alternative to contraception, also has an “artificial” element. His comments in an interview with The Tablet, the Catholic weekly, are likely to reopen debate about one of the most contentious areas of Catholic teaching just weeks before a special global gathering of bishops in Rome to discuss the Church’s position on family matters. Cardinal Kasper is the leading proponent of moves to relax the ban on remarried divorcees receiving Holy Communion, arguing for a greater emphasis on “mercy” for individuals without abandoning the Church’s official teaching that marriage is for life. Pope Francis has openly praised a book the German prelate wrote on the subject and has pointedly made mercy the central theme of many of his public pronouncements in recent weeks. Cardinal Kasper set out his ideas in a speech to fellow cardinals earlier this year widely believed to have been delivered with the blessing of Pope Francis.

The plan is expected to be strongly opposed by a group of "conservative cardinals."

Make Your Own Hobby Lobby IUD

"And now we can decorate it!"

(Tipped by JMG reader Brian)

Civil Rights & LGBT Groups Denounce Hobby Lobby Ruling By Supreme Court

The Center For Inquiry

Today the Court made clear it does not view Americans’ access to medically necessary health care as a compelling government interest, and announced loud and clear that the religious preferences of employers take preference over the health needs of workers. In making its decision, the Supreme Court also made a determination that will cause significant confusion in church-state litigation for years to come. The majority held that small, closely held, for-profit private corporations have standing to sue under RFRA – in other words, that such corporations have the religious beliefs of their owners, and the same right to free exercise as their owners. “The potential effects of this decision are absolutely chilling, setting a precedent that is sure to reverberate far beyond the issue of contraceptive coverage,” said Ronald A. Lindsay, President and CEO of the Center for Inquiry. “This is not a decision that advances religious freedom – it is a decision that enshrines religious privilege over and above employee well-being,” added Lindsay. “This decision defies common sense, lacks compassion, and has the potential to harm us all.”

Human Rights Campaign

“Religious groups have a long-established first amendment ability to operate according to their own beliefs,” said Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Legal Director Sarah Warbelow. “Instead of protecting religious liberty, this ruling gives license for businesses to use their personal beliefs as a reason to deny people access to basic, yet crucial medical services.” HRC remains hopeful that the Court’s limitation in this case will be extended to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. We will remain vigilant in the event business owners attempt to use this decision to justify other forms of discrimination, including against LGBT people. In the immediate aftermath, some members of the LGBT community will feel the effects of this decision; countless lesbian and bisexual women as well as some transgender men rely on contraception. HRC will continue to work closely with our partners in the women’s and reproductive health movements, as well as other LGBT groups, as this issue continues to be debated.

National Gay & Lesbian Task Force

This is a dangerous precedent from the Court -- which could leave women in limbo for their basic health care. Under the ruling, some corporations will be treated like religious institutions and these so-called 'religious corporations' will not have to pay for health care that they disagree with. So what happens if a woman needs birth control and their employers won't pay? What happens if a trans woman needs hormones and their bosses won't pay? What happens if a couple needs fertility treatments and the 'religious corporation' they work for won't pay? Yet again, another barrier put in the way of vital and affordable health care.

NARAL Pro-Choice America

Today's decision from five male justices is a direct attack on women and our fundamental rights. This ruling goes out of its way to declare that discrimination against women isn't discrimination.

 Allowing bosses this much control over the health-care decisions of their employees is a slippery slope with no end. Every American could potentially be affected by this far-reaching and shocking decision that allows bosses to reach beyond the boardroom and into their employees' bedrooms. The majority claims that its ruling is limited, but that logic doesn't hold up. Today it's birth control; tomorrow it could be any personal medical decision, from starting a family to getting life-saving vaccinations or blood transfusions. 

Ninety-nine percent of women use birth control at some point in our lives, and none of those stories made it into the arguments. It's outrageous that these five male justices chose to single out birth control for special discrimination.

 NARAL’s message has always been clear: bosses who want control over their employees' personal medical decisions are offensive, out of touch, and out of bounds, and so is this ruling. We call upon Congress to right this wrong, and we will work tirelessly with our allies and member activists to make sure that the people who would stand between a woman and her doctor are held accountable.

Lambda Legal

Today’s majority ruling disregards decades of case law that drew a protective line between free religious expression and religious dominance of others. It is a radically dangerous decision that invites more misguided actions contrary to essential protections for employees, customers and the public. It is imperative that the U.S. Congress amend the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act to withdraw the blessing the Court mistakenly has given these companies to impose their beliefs on working women. Today’s ruling is about the ACA and women’s reproductive health and rights, but some may mistake this narrow ruling as a wide open door for religious liberty exemptions from other statutes that protect employees and the public. Today’s opinion says doing so would be incorrect. However, recent mistreatment of LGBT people in employment and other commercial settings still makes this extremely troubling. A business owner’s religious objection to a worker’s same-sex spouse or a customer’s LGBT identity is not acceptable grounds for discrimination. It is more important than ever that states and Congress enact strong, clear nondiscrimination protections for LGBT people.

National Center for Lesbian Rights

The majority’s holding that closely held corporations can claim religious liberty protections designed for individuals—and can rely on those protections to avoid complying with generally applicable laws—is a dangerous and radical departure from existing law that creates far more questions than it answers and shows a callous disregard for the health care needs of women workers. Thankfully, however, the majority recognized that even under its sweeping new rule, corporations cannot rely on claims of religious liberty to evade non-discrimination laws. That limitation is extremely important and means that employers cannot exploit today’s decision to justify non-compliance with laws that prohibit discrimination against LGBT people and other vulnerable groups, but we will need to be vigilant to make sure that principle is respected and enforced.

Hobby Lobby Owners Celebrate

Perkins Cheers Hobby Lobby Ruling

"The Supreme Court has delivered one of the most significant victories for religious freedom in our generation. We are thankful the Supreme Court agreed that the government went too far by mandating that family businesses owners must violate their consciences under threat of crippling fines.  All Americans can be thankful that the Court reaffirmed that freedom of conscience is a long-held American tradition and that the government cannot impose a law on American men and women that forces them to violate their beliefs in order to hold a job, own a business, or purchase health insurance." - Hate group leader Tony Perkins, via press release.

SCOTUS Rules In Favor Of Hobby Lobby

The ruling was 5-4 with Justice Alito writing for the majority. Via MSNBC:

The Supreme Court has ruled that a closely-held company can be exempt from the contraceptive coverage under the Affordable Care Act. The closely watched case pitted the administration and its allies, including women’s health advocates, against the religious right, which has repeatedly accused President Barack Obama of waging a war on religion in the public square.

Hobby Lobby Stores, an Oklahoma-based, evangelical-owned craft chain with about 13,000 employees, and Conestoga Wood Specialties, a small Mennonite-owned cabinet maker in Pennsylvania, were two of the 49 for-profit companies that said the requirement violated their religious freedom. The Obama administration had provided exemptions for the law for houses of worship and an accommodation for religious nonprofits (the subject of pending litigation) but not for for-profit corporations.

The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the law at issue in the case, has never been applied to for-profit entities. The Court had to decide whether corporations even have religious exercise rights – making the beliefs of the employer synonymous with the entire company – and weigh that question against the potential harms to the employees.

Read the full ruling.

Headline Of The Day

Details. (Tipped by JMG reader Smith)

Hobby Lobby Founders Meet Pope Francis

(Tipped by JMG reader Str8 Grandmother)

Billboard Of The Day

Details.

SCOTUS Accepts Hobby Lobby Case

The Supreme Court today agreed to hear Hobby Lobby's appeal of the portion of Obamacare which mandates that employers provide contraception coverage.

The high court last year narrowly upheld the key funding provision of the health care law, a blockbuster ruling affirming that most Americans would be required to purchase insurance or pay a financial penalty -- the so-called "individual mandate."  The constitutional debate now shifts to the separate employer mandates and whether corporations and religious institutions themselves enjoy the same First Amendment rights as individuals. Three federal appeals courts around the country have struck down the contraception coverage rule, while two other appeals courts have upheld it. That "circuit split" made a Supreme Court review more likely. Among the plaintiffs is Hobby Lobby, Inc. a nationwide chain of about 500 for-profit arts and crafts stores. David Green and his family are the owners and say their Christian beliefs clash with parts of the law's mandates for comprehensive coverage. They say some of the drugs that would be provided prevent human embryos from being implanted in a woman's womb, which the Greens equate to abortion. The privately held company does not object to funding other forms of contraception -- such as condoms and diaphragms -- for their roughly 13,000 employees, which Hobby Lobby says represent a variety of faiths. Companies that refuse to provide the coverage could be fined up to $1.3 million daily.

Christianist groups are doing cartwheels on Twitter.

Dan Savage On Birth Control

Bill Maher On Catholics & Birth Control

"We found out earlier this year or last year in the primaries, when the Republicans made contraception an issue, that 98 percent of Catholics use birth control. Apparently, the only ones who don’t are the priests. Oh, they would if altar boys could get pregnant." - Bill Maher, speaking last night on the Conan O'Brien Show.  Maher's joke has predictably riled up the Catholic-affliated LifeSiteNews, where he is being denounced as "disgusting" and "disgraceful."

Headline Of The Day

Mostly without their knowledge or consent.

Merry Xmas From NOM's Quiverfulls

Domino's Pizza Founder Sues To Block Employee Access To Birth Control

Tom Monaghan, the founder of Domino's Pizza, has filed a lawsuit to prevent employees from using the company health plan to get birth control.

Monaghan is a devout Catholic and believes that using contraception is “gravely immoral,” according to his court filing. The suit adds that prior to the Affordable Care Act’s passage, the company specifically sought out insurance that does not cover contraception. The suit adds that prior to the Affordable Care Act’s passage, the company specifically sought out insurance that does not cover contraception.  One of the regulations implemented after the Affordable Care Act was signed into law requires that all health insurance plans cover preventative care — which includes regular cancer and STD screenings, annual checkups and contraception for both men and women — free of charge. Employers that are morally opposed to providing contraception are allowed a religious exception that places the financial burden entirely upon the insurer. In his lawsuit, however, Monaghan insists that his religious freedom is being infringed upon by the coverage mandate. The billionaire argues that he’s actually paying for “abortions” by way of supplying workers with access to emergency contraception like “Plan B” and “ella,” which the lawsuit calls “abortifacients.”

The Christianist logic of blocking access to birth control in order to reduce abortions in mind-blowing.

Catholic Nuns: Women Who Take Birth Control Cause Men To Crave Gay Sex

An order of Catholic nuns called the Children Of Mary has released a video which claims women who take birth control cause the men around them to commit homosexual acts. Or something.

A group of Roman Catholic nuns in central Ohio has produced a short anti-contraception video hoping to get it in front of Catholics in all 50 states, starting with swing states, before the presidential election. The video opens by saying oral contraception can make women less desirable by interfering with chemical hormones. It cites a study from the 1970s in which the alpha male in a tribe of monkeys became "confused" when females were injected with birth control drugs and started having sexual interactions with other males.

Enjoy the cray-cray!

DNC Button: Sluts Vote

Dana Loesch is outraged:

"Because nothing says 'respect women; like wearing a giant slut button. Respect women, even when they reduce themselves to nothing more than vaginas in a craft project gone horribly wrong and advocate for female genocide. Who's declaring a war on whom?"

You just have to laugh.

On Sale At Netroots Nation

From the same artist I blogged about yesterday.