Caitlin Emma Photo
“God Bless America!” more than 150 pro-lifers sang outside the federal courthouse on Church Street Friday.
Lisa Davis, who works in the financial tower overlooking the plaza, heard the song — and put together her own flyer. “Support access to contraceptives!” it read. She waded into the rally and handed out copies.
A pro-life advocate ripped one of the signs out of her hand and crumpled it into a ball.
“You are forgiven,” she told Davis.
“It makes me furious!” Davis said. “Reproductive rights are one of the cornerstones of women’s rights!”
Davis would have found a more sympathetic reception several hours earlier, when U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro convened speakers and a group of local women to breakfast at the Graduate Club around the corner on Elm Street.
After presentations on benefits of the Obama health care law — such as the removal of preexisting condition denials by insurance companies — DeLauro (pictured) took questions. The first involved … contraception.
“The conversation has become about equating contraception with promiscuity,” said one of the panel discussion’s attendees. “As a married woman, I have used contraception just as much, if not more, than before I was married.”
In January, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a mandate under the Affordable Care Act that requires employer health plans to provide free access to contraceptives. Since then, the uproar of controversy hasn’t quieted. Some religious institutions view the mandate as unconstitutional because it forces them to provide services that they find morally objectionable. Others see the issue as a basic protection of women’s reproductive rights.
“The fact that you even had to use the word ‘promiscuity’ makes me angry,” said Dr. Emily Fine (pictured), an OB/GYN in Hamden. “The Republicans want us to have unnecessary children and we want planned pregnancies, planned children. This is not about religious freedom; this is about women’s health.”
The contraception conversation was just one part of the panel discussion and breakfast. The roughly 70 people who attended, the majority women, nodded their heads in agreement while munching on fresh fruit and breakfast pastries.
Across the Green, pro-life advocates later rallied at noon against having contraception be a federally mandated part of employee health plans. The rally was one of 140 happening across the country, all organized by a group called Stand Up For Religious Freedom.
“I think the bill is a huge breach of rights,” said Yale theology graduate student Lauren Hoedeman (at left in photo). “And I personally think contraception is morally wrong.”
“What if you forced a kosher deli to sell pork?” asked Eduardo Andino (at right), a junior at Yale.
“Or forced Jewish people who are kosher to eat pork?” asked Hoedeman.
“It’s the same idea,” Andino said. “It affects the Church’s ability to maintain its integrity.”
Nicholas Salazar came to the rally with his wife and six young children. They hung back, unable to really hear the speaker on the megaphone, but said they wanted to show their support.
“The federal mandate is wrong,” Salazar said, clearing Saltine cracker crumbs off his son’s shirt. “We believe it’s a First Amendment issue.”
At the breakfast, Fine said many of her patients use contraception for more than preventing pregnancy. For many, birth control improves quality of life. Birth control pills can mellow crippling menstruation cycles, help with anxiety, depression and mood swings and can clear up severe acne. Some studies also show that birth control can reduce a woman’s risk of ovarian cancer by up to 40 percent, Fine said.
“Ovarian cancer kills 15,000 women a year,” said DeLauro, an ovarian cancer survivor herself. She urged the study of birth control as a way to reduce the risk of ovarian cancer. “Do we not think it would be worth it to pursue this? There is real data out there.”
If both groups can agree on anything, it’s probably this:
“This issue isn’t going to go away anytime soon,” DeLauro said.
I think this whole debate just makes it clear that the USA needs to offer real health care coverage to every citizen.