Contraceptive Controversy
The birth control coverage in religious institutions’ health plans has become a controversial topic.
A number of religious organizations and Republican politicians cried foul when President Obama moved to mandate that religious-affiliated institutions — such as hospitals and universities — include free birth control coverage in their employee health plans when the Affordable Care Act is implemented.
The Obama administration and proponents of the rule say employees of religious-affiliated institutions must be guaranteed reproductive health coverage, including contraception. The White House has since made some modifications to the rule — it offered to change the rule by exempting religion-related organizations with moral objections. Still, the insurance companies would be required provide coverage free of charge.
Opponents say such a change is just an “accounting gimmick,” one that pushes the contraceptives costs from religious organizations to their insurance plans.
And last month, opponents of the rule took their grievance to court. Seven state attorneys general have joined forces to file a lawsuit against the Obama administration. These attorneys general — from Florida, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas — along with some Catholic organizations, argue that the new rule violates the First Amendment.
Some prominent Catholic leaders have also jumped into the fray. In a speech on March 3, New York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan called on fellow Catholics to stand against the government, in what he termed a “freedom-of-religion battle.”
“We’re not trying to impose our teachings on anybody. We’re simply saying, don’t impose your teaching upon us and make us as a church do what we find unconscionable to do,” Cardinal Dolan implored. “It is a freedom-of-religion battle. We are talking about an unwarranted, unprecedented radical intrusion into the interior life of integrity of a church’s ability to teach, serve and sanctify in its own.”
This was also a hot topic on our Insurance Journal website. Numerous readers weighed in on the controversy. One of our readers commented: “I’m all for a woman’s right to any contraception she desires. I also understand the church’s position. If the cost is shifted to the insurance company and the insurance company raises rates to cover that cost then the church is in fact paying for contraception. What’s real doesn’t change when you change the label. A duck is a duck.”
Another reader wrote: “How is providing contraceptive coverage in a health plan a breakthrough for women’s rights? I see it as another step towards socialism.”
Some defended the Obama administration’s rule, saying that “It seems like the Catholic Church is against freedom to make one’s own decision. They want their hypercritical views thrust on everyone.”
What do you think? Who do you agree with?