Religion And Birth Control: Not Just A GOP Fight

[rug]

February 11, 2012

President Obama moved swiftly Friday to quell a politically perilous uproar involving two hot-button issues: birth control and religious institutions.

In January, the Obama administration announced that under its health care law, religiously affiliated institutions such as hospitals and schools would have to include birth control in their employees' health coverage.

All this week, Republicans on Capitol Hill bashed that policy as a violation of religious freedom, and some of the president's fellow Democrats added to the heat.

'An Accommodation'

When the White House first announced its birth control coverage policy, it said it would wait 18 months before making a final ruling on the issue. But by Friday, it was clear that issue had turned into a political brush fire that could do a lot of damage if not doused quickly.

http://www.npr.org/2012/02/11/146726642/religion-and-birth-control-not-just-a-gop-fight

Audio up at noon.

[Jim__]

1. The bishops still don't like it.

I wonder what Obama will do now. I think he has to stand; otherwise he looks extremely weak. An excerpt:

The Catholic bishops, who earlier on Friday said that the plan was “a step in the right direction” but that they needed to study it further, said later that some of its details remained unclear. What was clear, they said, was that the plan “continues to involve needless government intrusion in the internal governance of religious institutions, and to threaten government coercion of religious people and groups to violate their most deeply held convictions.”

In particular, the church leaders said they were concerned about the nationwide mandate imposed by the Department of Health and Human Services for coverage of “sterilization and contraception,” which raised “a grave moral concern.” It said the government should simply exempt self-insuring religious employers and religious insurance companies from the mandate.

[cbayer]

2. I thought I had read somewhere yesterday that they were good with it.

At any rate, I think this is all they are going to get and a brilliant solution to a difficult problem.