Not to be outdone by Arizona, Missouri is getting deeper into the crazy act. The legislature there has passed a bill to keep women safe from any possibility that they might try controlling their own bodies:
The bill states that no employer or health plan provider can be compelled to provide coverage _ or be penalized for refusing to cover _ abortion, contraception or sterilization if those items run contrary to their religious or moral convictions. The bill also gives the state attorney general grounds to sue other governmental officials or entities that infringe on the rights granted in the legislation.
“This bill is about religious freedom and moral convictions,” said Rep. Sandy Crawford, R-Buffalo. “This is about sending a message to the federal government that we don’t like things rammed down our throat.”
(via Hullabaloo)
In these days of Citizens United, this raises an interesting question, and some even more interesting possibilities. Most employers are corporations. So far as I know, most religious sects do not baptize corporations, but this bill wisely rejects such a crabbed approach. Corporations being people, of course they can have religions, and this being America, it is only right, just and fit that the religious sensibilities of corporations be entitled to far greater deference than might be extended to the the moral qualms of mere flesh and blood mortals. Why stop with women, after all. Besides the obvious, there are all kinds of possibilities here. If memory serves, the Amish were allowed to opt out of Social Security. Most corporations have deeply religious objections to paying taxes, paying the minimum wage, abiding by environmental regulations-or any regulations for that matter-not to mention a host of other moral positions they hold which might be unique to their religion, but are nonetheless sincerely held. These deeply held moral convictions must also be respected. Thankfully, they have no objections to taking government money, so we’ll still be able to bail them out when they tank the economy again.
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