Universities and hospitals with religious affiliations have been granted an exception to the Obamacare birth control insurance mandate, but the battle continues to rage with private companies owned by individuals with strong religious beliefs.

In essence, grumpy old men don’t want women to have access to birth control pills, morning-after pills, sterilization treatments, or any other medical advancements that keep us from becoming another cog in their baby-making, Jesus-loving machine.

The slaughter of all those tiny zygotes has their Mormon, Baptist, Catholic and Pentecostal panties in a twist.

The problem, however, is many of the people blocking access to the morning-after pill are under the impression it causes abortion, which can only mean one thing. It’s Sex Ed time kiddies!

The morning-after pill works similarly to a birth control pill. Because fertilization does not occur immediately after sex and because sperm can live for up to five days, the pills perform one of two functions. If taken during the first half of the menstrual cycle, before ovulation, the pills prevent ovulation from occurring, keeping any sperm lying in wait from fertilizing an unsuspecting egg. If taken after ovulation, the pills can cause thickening of the cervical mucus, essentially trapping the sperm before they complete their transformative journey through the uterus.

Little evidence suggests Plan B and other morning-after pills are effective if taken after fertilization has occurred. However, the packaging of most pills contains warnings about how it may thin the uterine lining, preventing embedment of the fertilized egg. The New York Times recently reported that those warnings, mandated by the Food and Drug Administration, were based on incorrect guesswork unsubstantiated by any credible scientific study.

In fact, the pills are so thoroughly non-controversial in the medical community that the American Academy of Pediatrics recently recommended physicians write advance prescriptions for teenage girls, who are currently not allowed to buy the pills without one.

Pills like Ru-486 that cause the destruction of an implanted embryo do exist but are more strictly regulated and taken much less often.

Cognitive dissonance is rampant in this country, but the mental gymnastics and willful ignorance characteristic of this particular issue take the cake.

For our “moral leaders” to claim their rights are violated by covering their employees’ health care is unconscionable, particularly in light of the fact that erectile dysfunction medication is covered under Obamacare, even for sex offenders. Pedophiles and rapists can access Viagra on the cheap while their victims pay for emergency contraception out of pocket.

Our culture celebrates and subsidizes men’s sexuality while women’s sexuality is censured and penalized, and it needs to stop. Women have the right to choose what they do with their bodies, and a woman’s birth control is no one else’s business.