Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli said he believes going to jail may be the best way Virginians can challenge President Obama's healthcare mandate for businesses to cover contraception in their health insurance plans.
"Forcing business owners and businesses to do this is not consistent with our history of preserving religious liberty," said Cuccinelli Wednesday, in an interview with conservative radio talk show host Steve Deace.
Cuccinelli, a conservative who is running for governor, said that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is an attack on the Catholic Church, and that his local bishop told him he was willing to go to jail over the issue.
"I told him, 'Bishop, don't take this personally - you need to go to jail.' What I mean is that people need to see this play out all the way to its logical conclusion," said Cuccinelli.
Virginia Del. Charniele Herring (D-46), chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia, said in a news release: "Virginia women deserve better than an Attorney General who wants employers in this Commonwealth to 'go to jail' rather than comply with the law of the land and offer insurance coverage for contraceptives that experts say are essential to keeping women healthy."
"Ken Cuccinelli's outside-the-mainstream attacks on FDA-approved birth control should have no place in the office of Virginia's top lawyer and certainly not in the Governor's mansion," Herring said.
What do you think? Should employers be required to pay for contraception in their employees' health care plans? Tell us in the comments box below.
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It's ridiculous to me that politicians will do anything they can to appease Atheists in their right not to believe and at the same time do everything in their power to silence those who do believe. If a business owner has strong and reasonable beliefs, such as the preservation of unborn life, why can the government not honor that? If the employee cannot afford the low expense of contraceptive, than they probably need another job anyway. Let the employee make this decision, and then the employee can choose where to work based on the benefits provided. That's a true "pro-choice" approach. If you wish to provide parents the choice to terminate an innocent life, why can't you give others the choice to preserve it? What I am mostly surprised at is that the Democrats feel that the slow erosion of personal freedoms will be only limited to the conservatives.
Obama is not shoving something new down the American peoples throats. He is trying to help women so that abortions will not be necessary. But you have the religious right wing extremist who want to make sure women can't get birth control, can't have abortions and are forced to have kids they can't afford to raise. Why is that okay? You know I get a chuckle out of the men on here always up in arms about the birth control but never up in arms over medicare, medicaid and health insurance paying for dirty ole men to get Viagra for not being able to preform. Did you all ever think maybe GOD is telling you all its time to quit being the dirty old men? So stop being hypocrites White American Males you are not in charge of me, I can handle my life and I pay a lot of money for my health insurance and if I want them to pay for BC its none of your business. And Cuccunelli is a nut case and will be soundly defeated in the run for Governor because he is so EXTREME .
Obama is not shoving something new down the American peoples throats. He is trying to help women so that abortions will not be necessary. But you have the religious right wing extremist who want to make sure women can't get birth control, can't have abortions and are forced to have kids they can't afford to raise. Why is that okay? You know I get a chuckle out of the men on here always up in arms about the birth control but never up in arms over medicare, medicaid and health insurance paying for dirty ole men to get Viagra for not being able to preform. Did you all ever think maybe GOD is telling you all its time to quit being the dirty old men? So stop being hypocrites White American Males you are not in charge of me, I can handle my life and I pay a lot of money for my health insurance and if I want them to pay for BC its none of your business. And Cuccunelli is a nut case and will be soundly defeated in the run for Governor because he is so EXTREME .
And do your research on the businesses. The in-your-face everywhere you look Hobby Lobby is facing stiff government fines and trying to appeal their callus disregard for their own employees by denying them birth control coverage insurance on the basis of their religion. When a business loses its social conscience, it's time they hear from the public big time. Overpopulation and the unwanted is something that affects ALL of us as we become unwitting victims to crime. Cooch, cuckoo, or whatever you want to call him, has every right to plan his family as he sees fit. And, to some, he's gone over-board at it. But don't tell others THEY must live and worship as (he) does.
I'm not opposed to either, but I would support exceptions for business or entities that had well established and reasonable religious beliefs against providing these benefits. However, I would not work for a business that went against my belief system. That's real choice.
I'm not sure we're debate the same issues. The issue I'm referring to is the right of a party to exercise their freedoms. I don't believe that your anecdotes and the basis for your debate seem better suited for a pro-life, pro-choice debate. I'm speaking of the churches and business owners rights being trampled in the pursuit to appease a voter based founded in the need for entitlements. I respect your opinions and I'm sure your world-view is founded in personal experiences. I simply see it from a different ideology.
I am a Citizen of the U.S. second. Saving my Soul for Eternity is more important to me than anything on this flawed Earth. Christians have been persecuted before. This will NOT be the last time. I have NO FEAR of going to prison over this Unconstitutional Law.
You bring up some good points. I wouldn't be opposed to Church income being taxed and then they can get deductions like any other business when it comes to money given to specific charitable activities like soup kitchens, free clinics, etc... (Of course I would love to have lower taxes and no one gets deductions) Additionally those employed by the church already do pay taxes and churches pay taxes on a majority of things that they buy, along with utility taxes, etc... If churches were not benefiting from a tax exempt status than this will allow them to speak more freely about political issues, without the threat of losing that tax exempt status. Since you feel (and I somewhat agree with the premise) that rights should be tied to the equitable contribution to the tax base, than is it reasonable to say that to vote one must be a tax payer? Reportedly 47% of eligible adults do not pay taxes. If we exempt veterans and retirees, can we then conclude, based on your premise that churches shouldn't have rights without being taxed, that only tax payers should benefit from certain rights?
I don't agree with aborting babies and would never abort one of mine, encourage my kids or anyone else to abort theirs. Likewise, I don't believe Iran should have nuclear weapons. But who do these self- righteous Republicans and like-minded talking heads think they are parading themselves around dictating what everybody else should do. Maybe if politicians quit trying to interject their beliefs, ideas in many cases crafted by self-centered world power brokers, into other people lives the world would be a better place to live.