The Burwell Vs Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. decision regarding the right of employers to opt out of providing birth control as part of health care insurance has highlighted the very real divide in the US over the right to use contraception. For Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah and conservative radio show host Andrew Wilkow the use of birth control is limited to women who are looking to be promiscuous.
Ignoring research, such as that from the Guttnmacher Institute stating that 99 percent of women use contraception to avoid unwanted pregnancy, a further 60 percent use it to treat a variety of medical conditions. As Wicklow interviewed Sen. Lee the radio host remarked birth control is largely used for recreational purposes, a view agreed with by the Republican lawmaker.
The discussion between the two men highlights the very real divisions that lie at the heart of the Hobby Lobby debate. Those opposed to the ruling that allows employers to decide whether birth control should be included in the medications paid for by employer health insurance state that this places control of whether a woman becomes pregnant in the hands of their employer.
Lee later stated his agreement with Wicklow was not aimed at the statement over recreational use, but said as part of a wider debate on religious freedom in the US. The religious opposition argument has worried some commentators who believe the Republican party is engaged in a war on women and their right to choose, beginning with the Hobby Lobby ruling.