As the Obama Administration begins handing out free abortion-inducing pills to single women, the irony is not lost that his campaign recently said it’s a scary time to be a woman. The latest campaign ad from the Obama campaign and the Democratic National Convention (DNC) claims, “I have never felt this way before. But it’s a scary time to be a woman.” For once, the Democrats got it right, but for all the wrong reasons.
The ad goes on to target GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s position on contraception and abortion rights in a miserable attempt to deflect attention from the undue hardships the Obama Administration’s so-called health care “reforms” have forced upon women, their families, and their employers.
The DNC’s new ad is one of many desperate attempts to redeem President Obama’s campaign by painting conservatives and Republicans as religious extremists crusading to strip women of their basic health care services. This clarion call from the Left is captured in a new editorial published by the New York Times, titled, “Republicans vs. Women,” in which the author states, “Even with a persistent gender gap in a presidential election year, House Republicans have not given up on their campaign to narrow access to birth control, abortion care and lifesaving cancer screenings.”
What’s really scary is the Obama Administration forcing a woman to purchase contraception, abortifacients, and sterilization, even if she believes it is morally reprehensible. While presuming to defend women’s choices, the Obama Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are actually limiting women’s choices towards human life, religious affiliation, and free market enterprise, as it officially implements the HHS anti-conscience mandate.
The Obama Administration is attempting to mask this infringement on our rights with an inane compromise that offers a full exemption to a select few deemed “religious enough” under this Administration’s rules. A few others have been given a one-year reprieve before they’ll be forced to violate their beliefs. Those who refuse to comply will incur devastating penalties – $100 per employee per day for non-compliance.
This narrow exemption will ultimately prove futile if the HHS mandate is not repealed. Already, employers are fighting to defend their consciences. The owners of Hercules Industries, a family-owned manufacturing business, filed suit in the Colorado District Court. Thankfully, the judge handed Hercules Industries a victory in the form of a preliminary injunction that will halt the government’s ability to enforce its anti-conscience mandate while the lawsuit is being challenged in court.
Like the owners of Hercules Industries, many employers will suffer financially for refusing to violate their religious beliefs. Hercules employs 265 employees, meaning if they did not win the temporary injunction, they would be forced to pay a penalty of $800,000 per month. These enormous penalties will be impossible to pay for most family businesses.
As a result, employees fear a cumbering trickle-down effect due to the anti-conscience mandate and other health care “reforms.” These fears are warranted, especially as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) diverts $500 million in taxpayer dollars to the Department of Health and Human Services to implement the mandate and is expected to harness another $881 million for the first four years of ObamaCare’s enactment.
Additionally, President Obama pledged he would “cut the cost of a typical family’s premium by up to $2,500 a year,” yet his health care “reforms” are actually raising health care premiums by $2,100 per year, creating significant financial hardships on many families and their employers.
Let me draw you a real picture of how these health care reforms and their explosive costs really affect women, their families, and their health benefits. Too many believe that benefits are an additional perk to the salary a company offers. But as an employer of a religiously-affiliated organization, I can tell you that employers look at the total salary/benefits ratio when considering a worker’s compensation. So as health insurance costs rise, health benefits are suffering. A study conducted in California revealed that as health insurance costs are increasing, employers are being forced to reduce the benefit compensation levels in order to keep their salary/benefit ratio at 30 percent.
Considering the Obama Administration’s track record over the last four years, it is no surprise that women are afraid. Between June 2009 and May 2011, women lost 218,000 jobs. There are now 83,000 fewer jobs for women than when Obama took office. On Obama’s watch, the number of women in poverty skyrocketed to over 17 million in 2012, and 75 percent of women are struggling to make their rent or mortgage payments.
Women should be scared, but they don’t have to wait until after the next election. The welfare of our nation and our families has already hit an all-time low. The Obama Administration’s health care “reforms” are systematically dismantling our Constitutional rights, assaulting our religious institutions, and thrusting a crushing financial burden upon the backs of overburdened taxpayers.
Like the owners of Hercules Industries, we women must fight to preserve our religious freedoms or risk forfeiting our livelihoods. It’s a Herculean task, but our social conscience is worth the effort.