My Thoughts on the Hobby Lobby Decision

In regards to the recent decision by the Supreme Court, it seems to me that all these "media outlets" are spending a great deal of time stretching the facts on a couple points.  Those are that Hobby Lobby is trying to control the reproductive rights of their employees, and force their belief system on them as well. Saying that makes great headlines and triggers strong emotions, but I don't see how these are valid arguments.

First of all, the decision was about whether or not the government can force a family-owned business to provide their employees health insurance options that go against their personal beliefs. No matter what the health insurance provided by a company offers or doesn't offer it doesn't mandate what you can or cannot do to your body. That is dictated by your personal belief system, what you can afford, and sometimes, federal regulations that limit what we can or cannot do. All insurance does is give us another entity that is willing to pay all, some, or sometimes none of our medical expenses. If our insurance doesn't cover something we or our families need, it is up to us to provide that, not our employer.

Second, while companies of a certain size are required to offer health care to their employees, an employee is not bound to use it. Many companies offer incentives like paying for a portion of the premiums, or contributing to the employee's Health Savings Account. They do this to entice employees to work for them. We, as employees have the responsibility to make sure we get the pay and benefits that provide for ourselves and our families, and they align with our personal beliefs. If you don't like the health insurance offered by a company we can still get our own. We can't go without anymore, that choice was taken away by the federal government and the Affordable Care Act.

Ultimately, the decision of who I work for is mine alone. If I find out that a company I want to work for has policies that go against what I believe, or does not provide the benefits I or my family need, I'm going to rethink my decision.