I'm confused about the American Republican party

[Lissa]

The question I have is this though, are those same religious organizations paying for things like Viagra or fertility treatments? If the answer to this is yes, then them fighting contraception is discrimination. Likewise, it is not the religious organizations place to mandate that either, it is their insurance carriers that mandate it.

First, not being Catholic, I don't really get it. But, to attempt to clarify their position...

Discrimination against whom? In the broadest sense of "discrimination", then yes, they have "distinguished one treatment from another treatment" Their beef is with the prevention of pregnancy, which is the natural expression of life. How is this a special class akin to racial, ethnic, gender, age, etc. We choose based on our beliefs (discriminate) all the time. Bad discrimination is when it's against a minority that has little choice. If they were against female birth control, but supportive of male birth control, then it would be a class based discrimination.

In this case, the Catholics are discriminating against a treatment that goes against their beliefs, and it happens to be the majority (of even Catholics) who participate in birth control. If anything, they've been consistantly against all types of birth prevention for a long, long, time. They don't discriminate against types of birth control, they are against all birth control.

Throwing in Viagra, and fertility treatment is a bit of a red herring. It may not, depending on the treatment, go against their beliefs. I imaging harvesting eggs and freezing them is to close to tinking with life for them. Taking a pill to get an erection, or removing scaring from endomitriosis would be restorative treatment for those that seek it.

If employers are required to pony up 60% of the costs, should a religious institution (employer) be required to pay for services that are against their beliefs? That includes birth control for Catholics, and abortions for about 95% of other religious groups.

First off, it wasn't just the Catholics that were up in arms about this.

Second, it is descrimination against those that choose to either wait on having children (those that are married, but want to wait until their careers are better established before going forward with having children) or those that do not want children, but do not want to obstain. You cannot hold one group of people's sexual activity hostage while providing for others. Likewise, birth control goes beyond just the woman, men have options as well, and holding back on those that want to be responsible about the bringing of children into the world should not be told to obstain because they don't want children (yet).