They Are Coming for Your Birth Control: Where Birth Control is “Gravely Immoral”
The former founder of Domino's pizza thinks you need to Avoid the Noid...and fornication!
Correction: We mistakenly reported that Domino’s Pizza was party to the lawsuit. The lawsuit is being brought by Domino’s Pizza founder Tom Monaghan’s later established company with a similar name. Domino’s Pizza is not involved in this lawsuit. We regret the error and have made further clarification between the two throughout the following piece, which was updated at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 18th, 2012.
Note: Think that anti-choice politicians and activists aren’t trying to outlaw contraception? Think again. Follow along in an ongoing series that proves beyond a doubt that they really are coming for your birth control.
Tom Monaghan may like his pizza fast, but when it comes to sex, he doesn’t think he should be forced to support a wayward lifestyle. In fact, he believes providing his employees with birth control might send him straight to hell.
Via The Blaze:
The founder of Domino’s Pizza is suing the federal government over mandatory contraception coverage in the health care law.
Tom Monaghan, a devout Roman Catholic, says abortion and contraception aren’t health care but a “gravely immoral” practice.
…
Monaghan says the law violates his rights, pointing out that it is not his responsibility to pay for the sexual habits of his employees, and is asking a judge to strike down the mandate. There are similar lawsuits pending nationwide.
Before we worry too much about how Monaghan might be putting his immortal soul in danger by letting his employees access birth control like so many other employees in other companies are allowed to, it should be noted that Monaghan actually sold most of his shares of the company in 1998 to Mitt Romney’s investment banking firm Bain Capital, choosing instead to “retire from active involvement in Domino’s Pizza and devote more time to my charitable endeavors,” he said in a statement at the time. Those charitable organizations include the anti-choice legal group Thomas More Law Center, Catholic colleges and universities; he has even provided past support to Operation Rescue. The Thomas More Law Center has been at the center of suits over the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act and other religious-based organizations suing to block the no co-pay birth control mandate.
The suit itself involves Domino’s Farms Corporation, an office park hosting a religious book store and art gallery, hair salon, and chapel among other businesses. It has no relation to the pizza franchise, despite the press release announcing the suit that unintentionally or purposefully chose not to draw a distinction between the two, resulting in numerous misleading or confused reports in the media.
To distance itself from its rabidly anti-choice founder, Domino’s used to have an FAQ that would address the issue of Monaghan’s activities: “Domino’s Pizza LLC has never supported organizations on either side of the reproductive rights issue. The corporation and its 1,825 independent franchise owners across the world have one goal: to sell pizzas and grow our market share. We can’t accomplish that goal if we alienate potential customers, as this issue certainly would.”
Domino’s has responded to stories about the lawsuit by reminding potential customers that Monaghan sold his shares over a decade ago, and that the pizza company itself is not involved in the Monaghan/Domino’s Farm suit. “Tom Monaghan sold Domino’s in ’98 and has no affiliation w/us. This suit does not involve Domino’s Pizza,” they responded via social media.
“Domino’s Pizza has made no public statements about health care, as we are still waiting to see how the final rules will affect our network of small business owners,” said Chris Brandon, Public Relations Director of Domino’s Pizza in an email.
“Domino’s is not a political company; it is not a religious company – we are a pizza company.”
That Domino’s pizza franchise is caught in the crossfire as Monaghan continues to use his past business legacy in order to further the agenda of Thomas More and other anti-choice legal groups hoping to overturn the mandate shows the desperate lengths many anti-choice activists are willing to take when they are coming for your birth control.