AZ House Bill 2625 is fascinating in its scope, considering that the EEOC prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion. You should click on the link and read what it has to say about contraceptives.

Nevermind, I’ll just snipe it for you here, save you a little time:

 Notwithstanding subsection y of this section, a contract does not fail to meet the requirements of subsection Y of this section if the contract’s failure to provide coverage of specific items or services required under subsection Y of this section is because providing or paying for coverage of the specific items or services is contrary to the religious beliefs of the employer, sponsor, issuer, corporation or other entity offering the plan or is because the coverage is contrary to the religious beliefs of the purchaser or beneficiary of the coverage.� If an objection triggers this subsection, a written affidavit shall be filed with the corporation stating the objection.� The corporation shall retain the affidavit for the duration of the contract and any renewals of the contract.  This subsection shall not exclude coverage for prescription contraceptive methods ordered by a health care provider WITH prescriptive authority for medical indications other than for contraceptive, abortifacient, abortion or sterilization purposes.� A corporation, employer, sponsor, issuer or other entity offering the plan may state religious beliefs or moral convictions in its affidavit that require the subscriber to first pay for the prescription and then submit a claim to the corporation along with evidence that the prescription is not in whole or in part for a purpose covered by the objection.� A corporation may charge an administrative fee for handling these claims.

Now. In case you’re overcome because of what you think that means and are not sure you’ve parsed that correctly, I’ll tell you what it means. It means that an employer can refuse to pay for your birth control method if you’re using to prevent pregnancy.

You can get around it if you get your doctor to send a letter to your employer that you’re just using it to prevent terrible cramps or acne or migraines or dropsy. Or something. As long as it’s not contraception.

What business is it of anybody’s, let alone your employer’s, why you’re taking any prescription medication, as long as you show up and do your job to the appropriate standards? If you take insulin, do they monitor your blood sugar? If you have erectile dysfuntion, do they ask you to record your erections (or failure to have erections)? If you use an antifungal on your feet, do they ask to see your toenails?

No, they do not.

I am unclear as to why we are revisiting this issue again. 10 or eleven years ago, I had to pay full price for my BCPs, even though everything else was covered by a small copay. Then the law changed and said that if my insurance covered any drugs, it had to cover birth control pills. It was a happy day for me, because for whatever reason, the generics cause rather than help prevent migraines for me, and my pills are in the hundreds of dollars for me.

But that’s all beside the point, isn’t it? This bill says that if you’re having sex, you should be doing it to reproduce.

Not everyone who’s having sex wants a baby, and not everybody who’s married needs one (or one more). Andrea Yates comes to mind.

My health, reproductive and otherwise, is not the business of anyone I don’t choose to share it with. Neither is yours.

There are petitions out there that you can sign if you feel so compelled. I do and I did.