I finished reading Melinda Gates’ excellent book, “The Moment of Lift,” around the same time the Supreme Court unfortunately upheld Trump’s order exempting certain employers from the requirement to provide insurance coverage for birth control.
I am absolutely for religious liberty. But when our health care system relies substantially on employers, we continue to allow domination and discrimination of women by those who can exert this power.
Contraceptives should be affordable for women, if, or when, they want them. It is preventive health care. Contraceptives can save the lives of millions of children and women, simply by allowing women a chance to plan their families. Religious rights should not supersede other fundamental rights.
As Melinda Gates writes, progress depends on inclusion and inclusion begins with women. Equality can empower women (and other minorities, e.g. BLM) and help lead to a society where we are all connected.
When we can come together (regardless of gender, race, religion, political party, young or old), we rise.
“We can love without limits,” Gates writes. “We see ourselves in others. We see ourselves as others. That is the moment of lift.”
Susan Day, Draper