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(USA Today) Editorial: Obama's contraception retreat is not enough [View all]
Editorial: Obama's contraception retreat is not enough
Most American women — including most Catholic women — disagree with the 1968 encyclical in which Pope Paul VI held that contraception contravenes God's will. But church doctrine isn't set by opinion poll, or even by lay members of the faith, and the Constitution draws a bright line against government meddling in church affairs.
So President Obama beat a smart, strategic retreat Friday on the combustible issue of which employers should be required to offer contraceptive services to their employees. Obama did what he should have done in the first place: broaden the religious exemptions to the administration's birth control mandate to cover Catholic institutions such as universities, hospitals and charities, not just churches.
Under the new policy — details to follow — no church-affiliated institution with a doctrinal objection to contraception would have to pay for the coverage, or even tell employees that it's offered. Insurers would have to inform covered employees that it's available and free.
The policy shift is getting mixed reviews from Catholic organizations, and it leaves some knotty questions to be resolved:
- more -
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/story/2012-02-12/Obama-contraception-mandate-Catholic/53064884/1
Most American women — including most Catholic women — disagree with the 1968 encyclical in which Pope Paul VI held that contraception contravenes God's will. But church doctrine isn't set by opinion poll, or even by lay members of the faith, and the Constitution draws a bright line against government meddling in church affairs.
So President Obama beat a smart, strategic retreat Friday on the combustible issue of which employers should be required to offer contraceptive services to their employees. Obama did what he should have done in the first place: broaden the religious exemptions to the administration's birth control mandate to cover Catholic institutions such as universities, hospitals and charities, not just churches.
Under the new policy — details to follow — no church-affiliated institution with a doctrinal objection to contraception would have to pay for the coverage, or even tell employees that it's offered. Insurers would have to inform covered employees that it's available and free.
The policy shift is getting mixed reviews from Catholic organizations, and it leaves some knotty questions to be resolved:
- more -
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/story/2012-02-12/Obama-contraception-mandate-Catholic/53064884/1
It seems that when progress is to be made on significant issues, especially when it challenges the RW institutions that have a stranglehold on civil rights, the media can always be counted on to side with the RW.
GOP Continues To Oppose Contraception Coverage Plan Now Supported By Large Catholic Institutions
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002302328
Why the Contraception Mandate Matters
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002302957
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