To the editor:
In his March 29 column, Bishop Morlino hits the nail on the head when he notes how the contraceptive mandate puts a disturbing new spin on the tired, old “my body, my choice” slogan.
What strikes me in particular is how the folks who’ve been telling us for years that the government has no place legislating about what people do in the privacy of their own bedrooms are now arguing that the government has every right to do so by executive fiat.
Simili modo, when we were talking about same-sex marriage back in 2006, some folks were saying that anyone who objected to such unions didn’t have to enter into one him- or herself; but now, in the debate over employer-funded contraceptives, opting out is not an option.
Where indeed is our freedom of choice? We Catholics are under fire for trying to exercise it, and are being stymied by the “defenders of choice” themselves. With all this confusion and contradiction, I just wish our public discourse could be as well-ordered now as it was at the Tower of Babel!
Joseph B. Johnson, Leuven, Belgium