title:  A New Bill In Missouri Would Allow Your Employer To Fire You For Using Birth Control
text: In a move that will most likely never be described as  progress,  the state of Missouri has voted to pass SB 5, a bill that among other controversial and oppressive laws, would permit employment and housing discrimination against women who use birth control or choose to have an abortion. The bill passed by the Senate tonight is a good start,  Will Scharf, policy director for Missouri Governor Eric Greitens, wrote on Twitter.  Looking forward to seeing how the House can substantially improve it to protect life! The main reason behind SB 5 is to impose more restrictions on abortion providers in the state, such as requiring them to send fetal tissue samples to a pathologist within five days, the pathologist then having 72 hours to respond. Currently there are no deadlines, but despite the bill being supported under the guise of women s health, requirements such as this serve absolutely no medical purpose whatsoever. Furthermore, the move will just impose more costs, both monetary and bureaucratic, on abortion clinics, ultimately forcing them to eventually close down, which was the goal all along.But there are even more disgusting, farther-reaching repercussions of SB 5   The bill overturns a St. Louis ordinance that prevented discrimination from employers and landlords against people based on their reproductive health decisions. To put it bluntly, if the bill is passed, women could be fired or evicted in Missouri for having an abortion, using contraception, or becoming pregnant while unmarried.The ordinance that was passed in February had its share of opposition. Archbishop Robert Carlson released a statement criticizing the passing of the ordinance as  a terrible moment for a city with such proud history,  adding The laws of the city of St. Louis now actively protect and promote the killing of unborn children. Thomas Buckley, general counsel to the Archdiocese, said the ordinance  promotes religious discrimination against those who don t want to be complicit in the evils of abortion.  He then took it a step further, saying The Archdiocese will not and cannot comply with this. We will go straight to federal court. That is not far removed from what they did. And they won. Soon in Missouri if an employer has a problem with a female staff member s use of contraception, which is about 99% of sexually active women between the ages of 15-44, their employment could be terminated and landlords could even deny them a home.Featured image via Alex Wong/Getty Images