WP: "Obama advisers seek compromise on contraception rule" [View all]

[jannyk]

“There are conversations right now to arrange a meeting to talk with folks about how this policy can be nuanced,” said Pastor Joel C. Hunter, a Florida megachurch pastor who has grown personally close to Obama and advised his White House on religious issues. “This is so fixable, and we just want to get into the conversation.”

Hunter’s comments followed a statement by David Axelrod, a senior adviser to Obama’s reelection campaign, who indicated on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Tuesday that the White House might be open to a compromise on the matter. “We certainly don’t want to abridge anyone’s religious freedoms, so we’re going to look for a way to move forward that both provides women with the preventive care that they need and respects the prerogatives of religious institutions,” he said.

Despite the assurances, officials with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops say they have not been approached by the White House with any proposed changes. The group has been among the most vocal critics of the rule, calling it an unprecedented abridgement of religious liberty. The guideline was issued Jan. 20 in connection with the implementation of the 2010 health care overhaul. It requires employers, as part of their health plans, to cover contraception as well as the so-called “morning after pill” and sterilization measures such as vasectomies.

While churches are exempt from the requirement, larger religiously run institutions such as universities and hospitals are not. The administration has offered groups a one-year grace period to figure out how to comply with the rules, but the bishops say they will pursue every legal measure to stop its implementation.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-advisors-seek-compromise-on-contraception-rule/2012/02/06/gIQAlUwrwQ_story.html

Oy vey.