At Aljazeera Ashley Judd discusses the effects of the HOBBY LOBBY decision beyond U.S. borders.
"At issue is the IUD, or intrauterine device, which the defendants in the case — Hobby Lobby Stores and Conestoga Wood Specialties — specifically resisted covering in employee health plans. The IUD is one of the most effective forms of contraception and has spared millions in the developing world from lives of crushing poverty, sickness and early death."
Contraception is a ticket out of abject poverty for tens of millions of women in third-world and developing countries around the world, but:
"U.S. assistance for family-planning services has been under attack for years. Today only two cents of every development dollar goes to support programs for girls, such as those that provide access to contraception. This, even though evidence shows that every dollar invested in contraception saves $4 in other areas, such as education, public health and water and sanitation."
The right-wing evangelical enthusiasm this ruling will engender around the world may spread like wild-fire.
"We simply cannot let this Supreme Court decision set the clock back even further."