In regard to Dana Milbank’s Feb. 28 column (“Contraception hearing turns student into political martyr”): This whole issue has been turned on its head.

It’s not about whether or not a woman can ask for or receive or purchase or have contraceptives. It is about telling a church, any church, in this case, the Roman Catholic Church, that it has to pay for and allow for contraceptive use, including the “morning-after pill” — telling the church what it must do!

The separation of church and state was put into the Constitution to keep the state from telling the church what to do, as in this case. It was not the reverse as so many secular humanists would have one think.

In my opinion, contraceptives used for preventing a pregnancy are not a health issue. Contraceptives come in all shapes and forms — from pills to condoms to various types of inserts, as well as abstinence and rhythm. Abstinence and rhythm require nothing but tolerance and patience, both of which have disappeared in this current era. Telling the church what it must handle in the employee’s medical program is unconstitutional.

Contraceptive devices are over-the-counter products that are sold almost everywhere — drugstores, department stores and grocery stores, and they are not very expensive. Many organizations hand them out — Planned Parenthood, for instance.

Therefore, a government of the people, by the people and for the people should stay out of our churches and our bedrooms!

Barbara Britten is a resident of Shapleigh.