Posted on 09/07/2018 1:36:49 PM PDT by Morgana
An Indiana minister who claims to be a pro-life Christian testified against a religious freedom ruling Friday during U.S. Senate hearings on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Alicia Baker, a community development organizer and ordained Free Methodist Church minister from Indianapolis, urged the Senate to oppose Kavanaugh’s confirmation because of his decision to grant religious exemptions to the Obamacare HHS mandate.
“If Judge Kavanaugh is confirmed, access to affordable birth control will be in jeopardy,” Baker said. “This committee and the Senate must weigh the harmful impact Judge Kavanaugh would have on the health and well being of so many people.”
In 2015, Kavanaugh sided with Priests for Life in its challenge of the Obamacare HHS mandate while serving on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. He said the government should not force religious employers to provide drugs and devices that may cause abortions.
“I concluded that penalizing someone thousands and thousands of dollars for failing to fill out a form because of their religious beliefs was wrong,” Kavanaugh said during the hearing Thursday.
Baker disagreed, arguing that women will suffer if religious organizations are exempted from the pro-abortion mandate.
“Jesus directs us to advocate for a just society that allows people to live their lives to the fullest,” Baker said. “And this means supporting access to affordable birth control, because by permitting individuals to plan if, whether and when to become pregnant, birth control allows us to live our fullest lives.”
In her opening remarks, Baker claimed to be a pro-life Christian. But most employers who challenged the HHS mandate are pro-life Christians who did not want to be forced to provide birth control that may cause abortions. The most well-known HHS challenger, Hobby Lobby, objected to just four forms of birth control that may act as abortifacients, including the IUD and ella; it provided 16 other forms to its employees without objection.
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Baker said she became involved in the fight right before her wedding when her insurance would not cover her IUD. She said she and her husband decided that, for financial reasons, they would wait a little while before having children. Baker said her doctor recommended an IUD because of previous trouble she had had with hormonal birth control. However, her insurance company would not cover the device – something that Baker said left her “shocked” and caused a lot of stress right up to her wedding.
Her insurance told her it did not cover the device because it can act as an abortifacient, something Baker refused to believe.
However, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Women’s Health, it does. Its website described the device this way in 2014: “It [sic – If] fertilization does occur, the IUD keeps the fertilized egg from implanting in the lining of the uterus.” A fertilized egg is already a living human being with his/her own unique DNA.
Baker fought her insurance company and eventually joined a lawsuit with the pro-abortion National Women’s Law Center to challenge the Trump administration’s rule expanding religious exemptions under the HHS mandate.
Kavanaugh could hear the lawsuit if he is confirmed and the case comes before the Supreme Court. That worries Baker.
“My faith dictates that I must speak out on behalf of the millions of women who stand to lose access to affordable birth control if Judge Kavanaugh is confirmed,” she said. “As a person of deep faith, I would never impose my religious beliefs on anyone – and no one else should either.”
But women like Baker have not been prevented from accessing birth control, including types that may cause abortions. Baker paid for hers herself, and other women may do so as well if their employers object.
Kavanaugh was correct in siding with religious individuals who the government threatened with heavy fines if they did not comply. Religious freedom is a core part of America, and religious individuals should not be forced to either give up their businesses or pay huge fines simply because they object to paying for something that could cause the death of an innocent unborn child. A Christian pastor should recognize that.
I figured someone would beat me to that comment. That is by far the worst among many errors in this evil person’s position.
I didn’t see a bible verse here so I looked at the transcript. The verse she is referring to with her
“Jesus directs us to advocate for a just society that allows people to live their lives to the fullest,”
She is referring to John 10:10.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
That is not a "verse". That is a outright lie.
Jesus never said any such thing.
Not even close.
There is nothing in there about "advocate for a just society" or "allowing people to live their life to the fullest".
He said that He came so they could have life fully.
Since abortion ends life then she is a child of the devil who is the father of lies.
She should pay more attention to what Jesus said about the little ones.
I agree.
This evil wench needs to read the Bible again. And then repent!
Alicia has a very unpleasant day of reckoning before her.
I think the verse is appropriate for her even if she doesn’t know her Bible.
She wants to force others to pay for what she wants so she is a thief,killer, and destroyer as well as a child of the devil who is the father of lies.
Free Methodist Church? Must be a bunch of loony liberal religion...Why not they sterilize themselves...
Way ahead of you - by 20+ years.
I aspired to be a minister from age five. I have served the church in two so-called denominations.
I started to hear soto voce comments in the 90s:
“There is no [spiritual] discernment in the [institutionalized] church.”
“The true Church is underground.”
They were right. Those of us who sought to exercise Scriptural sanctification (chastity) and discernment (wisdom) in the face of widening and deepe carnality and heresy were ridiculed and ostracized.
The three evils most in play were abortion (euphemized as personal choice), homoeroticism (euphemized as loving gayness), and communism (euphemized as genuine charity). The elevation of women to the ranks of the ordained abetted all three of these corruptions.
If you call them on any of it, you are accused of being unloving, legalistic and judgemental, and - my favorite - of wanting a perfect church.
I admit I was worn out from being the one voice among 300 calling for a Biblical perspective on critical congregational dictates and actions.
deepe = deepening.
Lies. Lies. Lies. Satan has infiltrated their church. Life to the fullest doesn’t happen when you don’t live as Christ lived, and that includes laying your life down for your friend, who just may happen to be your unborn child.
Lord God, open their eyes to the truth and their ears to hear your voice. Don’t let Satan have them! In Jesus’ name and for your glory alone. So be it.
A Methodest minister????, gee i thought it was just the Catholics who got things screwed up.
Proverbs 6:16-19
16 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
God hates what this pro-abort Methodist is doing.
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