Takes Away Individual Rights for Sake of a Corporation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 07/08/2023
ANCHORAGE — Mark Begich is taking a strong stand against the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby ruling which takes health care decisions away from Alaska women and allows bosses to make reproductive health care decisions for their employees.
“Mark Begich is the only candidate in this race standing up for the rights and privacy of Alaska women and opposing government overreach directly into their reproductive decisions. Mead Treadwell, Dan Sullivan and Joe Miller all believe a woman’s boss or the government should make health care decisions for them,” said Susanne Fleek-Green, Campaign Manager for Alaskans for Begich.
In an interview last week with the Juneau Empire, Begich reaffirmed his opposition to the Hobby Lobby case and said:
“ (the ruling) takes away some individual rights for the sake of a corporation…I can only say this as a man, but as a woman to have your boss tell you what kind of birth control you can have, I think is a big problem,” Begich said. “It takes away women’s reproductive rights that have been fought for decades.”
Today on “Talk of Alaska” U.S. Senate candidate Dan Sullivan doubled down on his approach to women’s health care and reiterated his anti-choice platform. Sullivan has also indicated his support for the Hobby Lobby decision.
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Alaska’s democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Begich is not one to hold back strong opinions, and he is adamant about his opposition to the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in the Burwell v. Hobby Lobby case
The senator running for re-election this fall said the landmark ruling paves the way for more challenges that go deeper than the Hobby Lobby case.
“It opens up the whole debate on reproductive rights and choice,” Begich said, later adding, “As a woman or man that’s concerned about reproductive rights you should be concerned with this ruling.”
The court ruled 5-4 in favor of Hobby Lobby stores which sought a religious exemption from the Affordable Care Act mandate to provide coverage for four of 20 types of contraceptives. Hobby Lobby argued that the four methods, which included two types of “morning-after pills” and intrauterine devices, constituted an abortion because they believe life begins when the egg is first fertilized. Scientists are divided on the issue.
Still, for Begich, the ruling takes away some individual rights for the sake of a corporation.
“I can only say this as a man, but as a woman to have your boss tell you what kind of birth control you can have, I think is a big problem,” Begich said. “It takes away women’s reproductive rights that have been fought for for decades.
“Women’s health care is once again going to be under attack as time goes on,” he added.
He said work is already underway on legislation that will “fix this problem” and protect women from those kinds of rights being taken away by a court ruling.
“In this case, what we want to do is make sure that right is preserved,” Begich said. “How we can do that legislatively — we’re not sure yet.”
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