MEMPHIS, TN (abc24.com)– There is no free lunch. Never was that more true than in the issue of free, employer-provided preventive healthcare. That free preventive care includes contraception, and that’s where the cost comes in.
The mandate includes religious-based employers and the cost comes in the form of religious and political backlash.
Tennessee State Senator Brian Kelsey, a Germantown Republican, drafted a resolution he hopes to send to the president. His message: eliminate contraception from the plan.
“We’re hoping to sent a message to Washington that it is totally unacceptable to trample on people’s religious freedoms,” Kelsey said.
“We must open the eyes of our leaders in the federal government who are blind to the injustices of this recent mandate,” said Bishop J. Terry Steib of the Catholic Diocese of Memphis.
Kelsey believes Obama’s plan could impose significant monetary and religion costs on Tennessee and the country.
“President Obama’s latest decision not to respect religious affiliations in his health care law is really offensive to all Americans,” Kelsey told abc24.com.
And providing health care that includes contraception is especially offensive to the Catholic Church.
Bishop Steib said “Within our Catholic teachings we would be going contrary to our conscience if we must underwrite funding for such services.”
But Memphian Lisa Nicklos says for most women--no matter their religion--contraception boils down to one thing, "I believe it's a personal choice myself."
Kelsey also told abc24.com he hopes all states will join with Tennessee in sending the message to the White House on the issue of mandated contraception and religious principals.
But for now- Tennessee stands alone.
