We've all heard all about Hobby Lobby, and how bad it is and how anti-woman it is. And I get that - and I even agree.

But then you get posts like this, basically saying "they'd never get away doing this to men".

The post basically suggest that they created a business that would refuse to cover vasectomies, and then watch the heads of the "old white men" of the SCOTUS explode because "we want to protect religious freedoms! But we can't reduce male privilege!"

Now they are completely serious, and very angry at what they perceive as a double standard ("they would never consider doing that to men").

But here's the kicker: vasectomies aren't required to be covered under the ACA

Not only that - but even worse: No male birth control coverage is require at all.

sources:

the healthcare.org site

Plans aren’t required to cover: [...] Services related to a man’s reproductive capacity, like vasectomies

webmd

Is birth control covered for men in health insurance plans? No. Only women's birth control is covered. Health insurance companies do not have to pay for services related to a man’s reproductive capacity, such as condoms and vasectomies.

This is the worse kind of confirmation bias - just inventing inequality that actually, trivially, can be shown to be the exact opposite.

Basically the whole outcry against the Hobby Lobby thing boils down to the SCOTUS saying that "under very specific circumstances, sometimes, women will be treated like men are treated constantly".

Note that I have no love for Hobby Lobby or this ruling - there is a difference between men and women in this case: women are the ones actually getting pregnant and risking their lives if they decide to abort, pills are an ongoing expense, and they have real medical benefits other than contraception.

On the other hand, barrier methods like diaphragms and sponges are covered, don't have additional medical benefits, and are very similar in functionality to condoms (which aren't covered).

Sterilization procedures are covered for women, but not men.

Condoms have medical benefits (preventing STDs) that all other contraceptions lack, but they aren't covered.

So really, I mean - I didn't mind this too much before I saw this troll2X post, as I assumed everyone knew that only women got this coverage. But now... it seems like many people assume services related to a man’s reproductive capacity are covered - and they seem to assume no one talks about it because no one would dare challenge these services "that benefit men", and only challenge them for women because "misogyny"

/rant