Yet I’m not convinced that Obamacare is the equivalent of a war on religious freedom. The individual mandate is unambiguously a war on freedom, for sure: the requirement that you buy coverage as a condition of being alive is clearly that. But as long as various health-care providers pull money directly from the federal government, it seems to me that they can be required to follow certain regulations. And most hospitals, whether private or public, religious or secular, are getting chunks of money from the federal government, through Medicaid and Medicare payments at the very least.

That’s a strong argument, of course, for getting the government out of areas such as health care and education, where a similar problem obtains: Shouldn’t K-12 schools and colleges that get government funding have to follow certain government rules? If you want that money, say, you shouldn’t be allowed to discriminate on the basis of race or gender, right? And if you don’t want that control, then opt out of the system, as colleges such as Hillsdale and Grove City have done by setting up replacements for Pell Grants and federally guaranteed student loans…

So I’m left wondering: If Obamacare was structured in such a way that it gave individuals vouchers to cover all or part of the cost of a health-care policy of their own choosing, would that solve this particular objection? I think such a policy would cause all sorts of problems, including a general increase in health care costs (just as easy, government-backed student loans have given rise to a “higher education bubble”). But would switching to a voucher plan for health-care obviate the issue of religious freedom? It seems to do the trick when it comes to education.