I got e-mail this week from Senator John Cornyn. He sends out a newsletter called “The Lonestar Weekly.” The lead story this time was about the contraceptive mandate that’s been causing the big firestorm in the media. Pundits everywhere seem to be arguing one side or the other: should faith-based employers be required to provide health insurance plans that cover birth control?
Cornyn, predictably, says no. Not that he, personally, has anything against birth control. Well, he doesn’t exactly say that, but he makes a point of saying contraception isn’t the point:
“The dispute over the mandate is not a dispute over the use of contraception. It is a dispute over First Amendment rights.”
He devotes several paragraphs to this argument, using phrases like “a blow to one of our most cherished liberties” and “the bedrock principles upon which our great country was established.” His headline vows, “If President Obama doesn't end contraception rule, Congress will.”
