On Friday the 13th, we saw the back door to repealing Roe v. Wade creak The Supreme Court has agreed to hear Whole Women’s Health v. Cole, a case that will determine whether politicians can shred the Constitution and end abortion by preventing women from accessing legal health services.
There are some beliefs, no matter how sincerely held, that should simply not be respected by any government. A “belief” that targets and endangers a specific demographic group that has historically experienced discrimination is no more than a religious mask for bigotry. Just as we reject the use of religion to justify racial and homophobic bigotry, the same is true for gender bigotry as well.
Peggy Young, a former employee of UPS, became pregnant in 2006 and was instructed by her doctor to not lift more than 20 pounds. Her normal duties at UPS, consisting mostly of delivering letters, very rarely required her to lift anything heavier than 20 pounds. However, UPS forced her to take unpaid leave as she was “too much of a liability” and she had to go without her employer-sponsored health insurance while pregnant. Other employees, those with disabilities, people with on-the-job injuries and even employees who had lost their commercial drivers’ licenses as a result of DUI convictions, received “light duty,” which was an accommodation UPS refused to provide Peggy Young.
Only 13 states set up a state-facilitated Health Exchange in accordance with the Affordable Care Act (ACA), leaving 37 states with a federally-facilitated Health Exchange. Health Exchanges are where individuals and families can apply to receive health insurance coverage under the ACA and where many can also qualify for subsidies via tax credits to help pay premiums. If the Supreme Court decides “wrongly” (in our view) in King v. Burwell, some eight to 10 million persons would likely lose their health insurance in these states because many would lose the subsidies that have made their insurance affordable.
The Supreme Court will hear a challenge to state bans on same-sex marriage in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, and Tennessee on April 28 – an historic event for marriage equality advocates and for the nation.