As a physician, I was surprised to read in Leonard Pitts’ July 2 Other Views column, Bad day for women’s rights, reproductive health, that human life does not begin at conception. But even if liberal political organizations like the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology make such obfuscating statements, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is correct that it really makes no difference in this case as this question is fundamental to religious beliefs.

How much is the religious liberty that our nation was founded on worth to most Democrats? Apparently, less than $9 a month, which is what a birth-control prescription would cost for a cash-paying patient. Which, by the way, would be paid for by the insurance provided for employees by Christian companies such as Hobby Lobby.

The hysterical pandering generated by this decision’s reasonable application of the First Amendment exposes Pitts, and those who think like him, as un-American ideologues.

Matt Poling, College Station, Texas