To the Editor:

I must strongly disagree with the College Republicans for slamming Obama for enforcing the right of Americans to have access to medical care, including birth control.

The arguments in their letter are flawed and demeaning. Let me count the ways.

Obama “forced” the faith-based organizations to follow the law of the land. Any organization on our soil with the legal limit of employees must provide benefits, including health care. What is considered an “assault” is ludicrous.

Would it be an assault to enforce pollution controls? Traffic codes? What about labor laws?

I’m sure no one wants to go back to those good old days of the overpriced company store or unpaid mandatory overtime or disbanding OSHA.

To be fair, the organizations in question are merely being held to provide a freedom of choice.

Insurance claimants should have the right to make that choice, especially if they pay for it. It is an individual’s right to accept or decline a service or procedure, including birth control — not a church or organization, as hard as that may be to swallow.

That is the root argument of both liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Life as we know it would be miserable and worthless if we were denied these values. As hard as it may be for you or me to accept, it should be argued within reason that people should live their lives as they see fit, regardless of political or religious views.

The actions people take now can set up future generations to make dangerous or immoral decisions, but the fact of the matter is, that is for us, the people, to decide.

To deny us of that right just because the subject matter makes you squeamish, or because it is “against your principles” is even more dangerous.

Under such conditions, people are no longer free citizens; they are merely kept prisoners under lock and key.

The people who work for religious institutions are under no obligation to continue doing so, but under the law, they are entitled to the same protections and entitlements as any other employee. No one should be forced to choose between their job and their religion.

No one should be coerced into unemployment or into uninsured status either by blatant or stealthy discrimination.

We were one of the greatest nations in the world to live in, but because of such short-sighted pettiness on issues like these, we are falling behind other industrialized countries and it won’t be easy to catch up.

I’ll be honest — Obama has plenty of flaws and little spine at times. But in this case, I’d say he was on the money.

You may not like Dick and Jane if they preferred planned parenthood but that is their decision, not mine, and certainly not yours.

If y’all have such a big problem with the issue, well, that is what the press and lobbyists are for.

But don’t play the “freedom of thought” card just to defend someone denying that right to others.

—William M. Sanders

Veterans Workforce Investment Program