Boston Herald Margery Eagan column

July 01--So the War on Women, Round 2, begins.

Or, more specifically, the war on women who want to have sex without one possible consequence -- pregnancy. Outrageous women like that really annoy lots of conservatives, big-time blogger Erick Erickson for one.

"My religion trumps your 'right' to employer subsidized consequence free sex," he tweeted after yesterday's Hobby Lobby decision -- capturing the right's perspective perfectly.

The Hobby Lobby ruling really has little to do with religious freedom.

Justice Samuel Alito made it clear in his majority opinion that though many religions disapprove of gays, this decision doesn't allow employers to discriminate against them on religious grounds.

"This decision concerns only the contraceptive mandate," wrote Alito, "and should not be understood to mean that all insurance mandates, that is for blood transfusions or vaccinations, necessarily fail if they conflict with an employer's religious beliefs."

Plenty of religions oppose vaccinations. Jehovah's Witnesses oppose blood transfusions, as Ruth Bader Ginsburg noted in her dissent. Scientologists don't like antidepressants. Certain Muslims, Jews and Hindus don't approve of medicine from pigs, including anesthesia and pills coated with gelatin.

Don't they count?

Ginsburg's point: The Hobby Lobby ruling favors one religion over others. That religion just happens to be Roman Catholicism -- the religion of all five men in the majority.

The minority on the court, meanwhile, consisted of three women and one man, Stephen Breyer, a Jew.

What Hobby Lobby really represents is a continued chipping away at reproductive freedom -- women's reproductive freedom -- which is a necessary prerequisite to our economic freedom.

Anti-abortion crusaders have worked hard to shame women seeking abortions. Now these same activists are working hard to shame women who want birth control. Though nearly every woman in America has used contraception, conservatives seem poised to demonize it again, just as GOP presidential contenders did in 2012. Remember Rick Santorum, who suggested states ban it?

Now here we go again.

By the way, while Hobby Lobby claims it's immoral to help its female employees pay for, say, an IUD (which can easily cost $1,000), the company has no moral qualms about helping male employees pay for Viagra.

So here's the bottom line: Viagra-fueled old men can have all the free sex they want -- without the consequences. But, ladies, get out the VISA.

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