Congrats, American women, you are now 2nd class citizens to Corporations!

[Suu]

http://www.boston.com/business/news/2014/06/30/justices-can-make-employers-cover-contraception/wQJYhgQf3Jg5e4x5HXeLmM/story.html

That's right, SCOTUS ruled in favor of Hobby Lobby. So not only are they not required to provide affordable birth control and abortion options under federally mandated ACA, this just opened a can of worms for other religious exemptions. Like, I dunno, vaccinations.

We're all gonna have lots of babies and then die of Smallpox, thanks to Jesus.

Fuck this country.

[Q. G. Pennyworth]

I was really hoping the buffer zone one was a sacrifice so they would rule correctly on this

[LMNO]

The last few SJC rulings have made me very sad.

[Suu]

I just kind of want to go outside and scream right now.

In fact, I think I will.

[Suu]

Ginsburg hits the nail on the head, as she usually does.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/06/best-lines-hobby-lobby-decision

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I am amaze. 

[Cain]

Question, in America what are the laws regarding time off for pregnancy and similar?

I'm just wondering because in the UK, even though we have a national health service, we also have rules that mean companies above a certain size contribute significantly towards paid leave for new mothers, which is not exactly small fry.  So if we had an American health system otherwise, it'd still be in their best interests to cover birth control and abortion costs, as so not to lose valuable female workers.

I realise the Vatican, one of the main supporters of this ruling, does not see things this way, viewing women as mostly disposable idiots to be tolerated so long as they are in a nunnery and otherwise avoided because they have cooties.  And of course the American welfare system is a lot smaller than the UK's, so the main loss is of the worker themselves, and depending on the industry they may be viewed as quite replaceable.

[Suu]

Question, in America what are the laws regarding time off for pregnancy and similar?

We have none.

[The Johnny]

Free contraception to me just sounded something from fantasy land, and here we are. 

[Suu]

This is more than just about women's reproductive rights, this allows any corporation to use religion as an exemption as they see fit. You work for a Scientologist? Get ready for some fucked up healthcare that involves taking vitamins and going for walks 3x a day from your cell in Clearwater, because that's what their religion mandates. You work for a Christian Scientist? No doctors at all. Faith will heal you. You work for a Jehovah's Witness? No blood transfusions. You work for a Jew or Muslim? Certain medications contain gelatin derived from pork.

Oh, and then there's going to be vaccinations.

This is just opened a can of worms that we should not even have. Corporations now have the right to wave "religious liberty" in the face of any employee and they have to bend over and take it. God has been placed on a pedestal above human rights. Welcome to the Dark Ages, in corporate theocracy form.

[LMNO]

Question, in America what are the laws regarding time off for pregnancy and similar?

We have none.

More or less, but there's a bit of nuance:

Federal legislation:
The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, signed into law during President Bill Clinton's first term, guaranteed maternity leave to many new mothers across the nation. It mandated a maximum of 12 weeks unpaid leave to mothers for the purpose of attending to a newborn or newly adopted child. However, the act did not attain universal coverage as it included several limiting stipulations. In order to receive maternity leave, employees must work in a firm of 50 or more employees, maintain employment with the same business for 12 months and have accumulated at least 1,250 working hours over those 12 months.

State legislation:
Paid maternity leave by state
Many states have supplemented these federal regulations and provided more extensive maternity leave benefits. There are currently 25 states that expand upon federal legislation in some manner. Fourteen of these states, along with the District of Columbia, have addressed eligibility requirements by lowering the firm-size threshold from 50 or more employees down to as low as 10 employees.
Seven other states, in addition to the District of Columbia, have adopted more generous maternity leave lengths that allow longer absences for the purpose of child rearing. Moreover, some states have enacted legislation enhancing the benefits of leave programs. California, New Jersey and Washington, for instance, operate programs that require private-sector employers to pay their employees who utilize maternity leave at partial replacement rates. Similarly, three other states and the District of Columbia designate childbirth as a temporary disability thus guaranteeing mothers paid maternity leave through Disability Insurance (TDI) provisions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maternity_leave_in_the_United_States

[The Johnny]

It goes with the tendency of allowing to discriminate customerd due to religious beliefs... where was that?

[Cain]

Huh.

Still, as an employer, I'd rather not have an employee off work because they couldn't get coverage for contraception or an abortion where possible.  I mean, you have to advertise, train somebody up...and it's all for 12 weeks anyway.  The cost/benefit suggests a loss, regardless.

I know, though.  The Free Market does not run on rationality.  It runs on some kind of Ayn Rand-ised bastard A=A bullshit magical formula calling itself rationality.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Question, in America what are the laws regarding time off for pregnancy and similar?

We have none.

Balls.  FMLA.

[LMNO]

Question, in America what are the laws regarding time off for pregnancy and similar?

We have none.

Balls.  FMLA.

True, but only applies under certain conditions.  see above wiki quote.