Catholic Groups Oppose Birth Control Coverage: Isn't Planned Parenthood the Best Kind?

COMMENTARY | According to a recent ABC news blog, "Planned Parenthood today launched a national TV ad campaign praising newly mandated contraception coverage in health insurance plans, including those offered by religiously affiliated institutions." This action is creating quite a stir among Catholic groups and representatives of the Catholic church who feel they are being discriminated against by the ruling.

With all due respect to the Catholic church:

I'm a firm believer in religious freedom. I was raised Catholic. I've since parted ways with the Catholic church. For the most part, it's due to the fact that their rules are based in a time much different than our own. One of those outdated rules involves a ban on birth control use. It was once a necessity to " be fruitful and multiply." Now our world is overpopulated. We can barely support the people we have. Adequate birth control for all isn't just a right. It's a necessity. Without birth control, human population growth would be overwhelming.

Isn't planned parenthood the best kind?

The Catholic church opposes birth control in any form. Yet, a recent Huffington Post article proclaimed that 98% of Catholic women use it. Why? Because they aren't ready to be parents. Why force parenthood on people who aren't adequately prepared to be parents? A marriage license is not a guarantee of good parenting.

People who are not married have sex. It's a fact of modern life. The Catholic church discourages premarital sex. That doesn't mean it never happens. Occasionally, premarital sex results in an unwanted pregnancy. When that happens, the Catholic church opposes abortion. Wouldn't insurance coverage for birth control be a sensible approach to decreasing abortions? Of course it would.

We've all seen parents who have no business parenting. It's a harsh statement, but it's true. It stands to reason that some of these parents have children because they had no access to proper birth control. Others may have abstained from using it because it was against their religion. Whatever the reason, isn't the more important consideration the well being of the children? Let's stop having children we aren't prepared to raise properly.

Allowing birth control to be covered under health insurance isn't discriminatory. If the person holding the insurance policy is a strict Catholic, they have the option of using birth control or adhering to their faith. Insurance and religious beliefs aside, birth control is a choice. If you don't believe in it, don't use it. Just don't take it away from those who do. Now that would be discrimination.