The recent Supreme Court decisions of Burwell v. Hobby Lobby and McCullen v. Coakley are awash with hypocrisy [“Justices put mistaken faith in Hobby Lobby contraceptives ruling,” Opinion, July 1]. So, women making private medical decisions aren’t due the same protections from harassment provided by a 35-foot buffer zone that is used at polling places and even enjoyed by the Supreme Court justices themselves?

A corporation claims its religious beliefs (as if for-profit entities can have religious beliefs) are being violated by having to provide birth control through their insurance plans, yet it can invest in the very pharmaceutical companies that produce these birth-control products.

On the surface, the decisions on these two cases may be about free speech and religious freedoms, but they’re indicative of a darker cloud that hangs over America — the struggle for power over women. Despite all the progress that has been made regarding women’s rights — and women’s rights are reproductive rights — in this country, we still have to fight tooth and nail just to have control over own bodies.

July Fourth is a day for celebrating independence and appreciating our freedoms, but as a woman in America today, I don’t find much to celebrate.

Meredith Bailey, Bothell