More to the point, and the Bishops know this, the availability of such coverage is required of ONLY those institutions that are religiously supported but public in nature, funded with everyone’s TAX dollars in many or most of their operations. Churches and specifically religious organizations are exempt. Those with public accommodations and receiving our tax dollars are not. They are covered by civil rights laws requiring equal access for their hiring and their employees’ benefits. That is democracy.

Where are OUR religious rights? We in the Protestant and other religions and denominations believe contraception is a high moral good, a responsible means to care for creation by not overpopulating. It is a high moral good for responsible family planning. To deny us access as employees while taking our tax dollars for work done is the most flagrant slap in our faces. No institution that takes tax money can deny equal access.

While fulminating over this “threat” to freedom of religion, the Bishops have come perilously close to committing acts of massive discrimination against all others around them. Being protective of one’s own conscience is fine – but not if it means being massively hypocritical about mission, populations, and funding.

You may NOT take our tax dollars AND strip us of our call to conscience. In a democracy you may NOT have it both ways.