My annual health insurance packet came in the mail today. It's one of those things you sort of glance at and then file. Yes, I knew that the premiums were going up, a trend exacerbated by the fact that the Archdiocese's employer contribution towards health benefits was going down. That didn't surprise me. (Annoy me, yes. Surprise me, no.)
What surprised me - and the fact that I am an idiot is evidenced by the fact that it did - what surprised and dismayed me was the first paragraph on the first page, writ large in caps and bolded.
"NO BENEFITS ARE AVAILABLE FOR ANY PERMANENT STERILIZATION PROCEDURES OR CONTRACEPTIVE SERVICES. CONTRACEPTIVE SERVICES INCLUDE EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION (MORNING AFTER PILL), ORAL CONTRACEPTIVES (BIRTH CONTROL PILLS), INTRA-UTERINE DEVICES (IUDs) AND HORMONAL INJECTIONS."
I am well and truly pissed by this. Thank you, Supreme Court, for allowing my employer to butt its huge nose into the private and medical lives of its female employees. Yes, I work for the Catholic Church, an already incredibly patronistic and intrusive entity. As a non-Catholic, I already found the annual document I have to sign about my personal behavior when I am not on the job to be incredibly insulting. (One of the reasons my journal is and will always be anonymous is because anything I say in opposition of Church teachings is grounds for dismissal. This rant, if traced back to me, could get me fired.) I find this state-sanctioned reduction of medical privacy and benefits to be absolutely immoral.
Listen, this doesn't affect me directly. As I am past my child-bearing years, I don't need to worry about contraception of any sort, now. I was, however, on birth control in the last fifteen years while I was working for the Archdiocese. It was a decision I made with my doctor and the Church had no say in it and no right to have had a say.
I don't really want to dwell on this because this sort of crap is crazy-making for me. When the Hobby Lobby decision came down, I put HL on my permanent boycott list for ethical reasons. I don't need to support them. Why support an institution that finds it morally righteous to impose their religious views on its employees, especially outside of the workplace.
Which leads back to my employer. I am unfortunately trapped in my job. I am far too old to think that I could leave my job without suffering serious financial disaster. I will, therefore, continue working for the Archdiocese until I retire, feeling completely hypocritical for being affiliated with such an institution.
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