Representative Ryan, thanks for coming in.
So, I’m a psychiatrist. Part of my job is to talk to people considering difficult decisions. It’s to help them understand their motives, their patterns, and their feelings. I think you have explained your motives quite clearly this evening: getting between my patients and me as they make their decisions.
You say you want to allow employers to forego providing health coverage that violates their personal principles. Tonight, you explained this as an extension of your Catholic values, a way to prevent the promulgation of birth control.
I'm afraid I see two major issues with this.
There's a Constitutional issue, I think. Now, I'm not a Congressman. I'm just a citizen. But, I remember my Social Studies classes and American Studies courses. The Constitutional issue is that religious liberty does not allow you to impose your religion on another citizen.
Religious liberty, as I remember it, means that you cannot be forced to violate your own beliefs in your daily life. You might argue that providing insurance that covers certain procedures is a violation of religious principle. To quote the Vice President: “Malarkey.”
That’s not how a free market works. No religious Jew would open a pork empanada shop … but if they did, they would have to sell pork empanadas. To put it more simply, credit card issuers can’t control what you buy. Insurance companies have to cover evidence-validated treatments. Companies have to provide a minimal standard of insurance if they are above a certain size, or contribute to the support of the insurance plan exchanges that their employees can use. This protects the rest of us from subsidizing emergency treatment for their employees. If someone really feels they cannot directly provide the insurance that will cover a particular procedure, then they can pay the fee towards the exchange.
Two, there's a big medical issue. This is not merely about birth control. Some religions frown on psychiatry. Other faiths prohibit blood transfusions. Still others ban particular surgeries. Allowing corporate leaders to shape their workers’ choices in the way you advocate will result in chaos in the daily work of the healing professions, leading to errors and soaring costs. It is also firmly undemocratic; it is feudalism, in which power flows from property rather than the consent of all the governed.
I’m not supposed to judge my patient’s individual decisions, so long as they don’t place themselves or those around them in imminent danger. To be frank, I don’t always agree with what they decide, but it’s not my job to judge. In that sense, I respect your personal opinions about healthcare. But, since you've wedged yourself into the confidential dialogue with my patients, and invited their employers into the room to boot ...
Sir, I'm going to have to kindly ask you to get out of my office right now.