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RULING: Free to practice religion

| July 6, 2014 9:00 PM

Planned Parenthood’s Karl Eastlund (The Press, 2 July 14) mourns the Supreme Court’s decision to allow freedom of religion. I’m sure it’s his honest misunderstanding and not abortion business related, so here are some facts to help him:

Then-President Clinton signed into law a prohibition against forcing people to violate their religious beliefs (like forcing Christian companies to violate “Thou shalt not kill”).

The Supreme Court said even the present administration must obey their own laws.

Hobby Lobby has long included in their medical plans 14 birth control options.

The three newly demanded options are abortifacients, that is, they kill already conceived babies.

Hobby Lobby pays their employees twice minimum wage (which is more than some congressmen do), so surely those women who for some reason cannot be served by the 14 options already available can lay out the $9 per month for whatever they want — without taking freedom of religion from their employers. Some people actually do believe and live their faith — imagine that! Those who just cannot be satisfied do, after all, still have the option, as do all employees, of seeking other jobs — maybe at Planned Parenthood?

The President has already forced insurance companies to pay for birth control out of their pockets for non-profit organizations, so he could easily dictate the same solution to other employers without violating their freedom of religion — if he really wanted to spare American women this “blow.”

Make no mistake — this is a contrived political issue, not the “blow to American women” that so distresses Eastlund.

HANS NEUMANN

Spirit Lake