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February 9, 2012 in Nation/World
Battling over birth control
Both sides seize issue to increase support, cash
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., center, flanked by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, right, and Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H. criticizes birth control provisions in the health care plan.
(Full-size photo)
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration’s new requirement that most health insurance plans provide contraceptive services has exploded into a high-octane political weapon, with combatants on both sides scrambling to score points among the electorate and gin up fundraising from their most ardent supporters.
In Congress and on the campaign trail Wednesday, Republicans attacked the rule as another example of government overreach, Exhibit A in the case against President Barack Obama’s health care law, while Democrats asserted the GOP was trying to turn back the clock on women’s rights.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, a Catholic, fueled the political firestorm by making a rare floor speech vowing to block the requirement that most faith-based employers, including Catholic ones, offer contraception, regardless of their religious beliefs. Churches and other houses of worship are exempt.
The campaign of GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney said the rule “compels religious institutions to violate the tenets of their own faith,” and Romney vowed to strike it down.
Democrats and Republicans used the controversy to appeal for contributions from their traditional political bases, a strategy that carries risks as well as rewards. At a time when independents and moderates can sway general elections, turning up the heat on a social issue could prove distracting and annoying to voters who are more concerned about the sluggish economy.
Amid the rising clamor, administration officials are exploring the possibility of implementing the rule so that religiously affiliated employers could offer supplemental policies, known as riders, for contraception or direct workers to insurance companies that sell such riders.
Even if Catholic voters and independents agree with the White House on substance, the administration doesn’t want to appear insensitive to the concerns of the Catholic Church.
Women’s groups would be likely to vigorously oppose any alteration of the rule.
“It’s absolutely amazing in the year 2012 there is controversy over women’s access to birth control,” said Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill. “One’s health benefit should not depend on who the boss is.”
Republican leaders on Capitol Hill, although emphasizing that their top priority remains jobs, focused escalating rhetoric, and most of the day’s attention, on the administration’s birth control policy.
“This attack by the federal government on religious freedom in our country cannot stand and will not stand,” Boehner said.
But polls indicate that voters, even Catholic ones, agree that contraceptives should be offered by health plans, even those of faith-based employers. That gives Democrats hope they can benefit from the high-stakes battle.
“This makes Republicans look more extreme,” said Eddie Vale, a spokesman for Protect Your Care, a health advocacy organization that has been leading attacks on GOP candidates opposed to the new health care law.
The contraceptive rule takes effect in August, but the administration has granted religiously affiliated organizations an extra year to implement it.
The rule requires that all health plans provide preventive healthcare services, which include cancer screening and wellness exams as well as contraception, without imposing cost-sharing, such as co-pays or deductibles, on employees. The administration already has granted narrow exemptions from the rule for churches, other houses of worship and religious organizations at which employees primarily share the same faith.
Stocks plummet as outlook in Europe dims 
JBlim on February 09 at 7:30 a.m.
Bottom line, if you prefer having sex with your spouse or lover when the mood suits you, vote Democratic. If the only time you have sex is to create a pregnancy, then you are eligible to be a Republican.
Benaround on February 09 at 9:20 a.m.
If you think all car-insurance companies should provide “free”
required oil changes in all policies then vote Democrat. If you
think there is an actual cost involved and you would prefer the
government mind their own business then vote Libertarian or
Republican.
Further, if you think the only true Religion is “Environmental
Justice” …and the only protected House of Legitimate Worship
is a Planned Parenthood Facility…then vote Democrat. I actually
think it funny the Catholic Church supported mandated Obama
care…and now Obama wants Faith Based organizations to
follow his moral intrusions. I don’t think it’s fine the Democrats want
to control our kitchens…and our bedrooms. I would like their
storm-troopers out of my religious life…and out of my house in
general.
JBlim on February 09 at 10:21 a.m.
“and our bedrooms. I would like their
storm-troopers out of my religious life…and out of my house in
general…”
So you’re pro-choice then?
Benaround on February 09 at 11:45 a.m.
JBlim: I am Pro- quit destroying our Country with Central
Planning delivery systems that are not working (schools)
full of corruption (Medicare) …full of kickbacks (Autoworkers)…
Etc-etc. I don’t want to pay the Health Care of the unemployed
tattoo- decorated 25 year old slackers. I don’t want to pay
for millions of free cell phones…nor make people’s house
payments for them. I resent class warfare encouragement by
our president. When I am minding my own business and
not bothering you, I want the Government out of my house.
I don’t know what Pro-Choice means…or what Women’s
Health Issues mean. If you are curious I would support
abortion is some circumstance…but not to attend next summers
Dave Mathews concert at the Gorge.
The_Seer on February 09 at 11:55 a.m.
benaround and legions of others like him are the reason the founding fathers didn’t relegate basic human rights to the will of the majority.
http://mediamatters.org/research/201202080008
Catholics themselves don’t seem to have much of a problem with this decision.
The_Seer on February 09 at 12:05 p.m.
98% of sexually active Catholic women use some form of birth control. The claim that conscience trumps law is ludicrous and shows how out of touch institutional leadership in the Catholic church is with the actual consciences of the ones they purport to represent. Catholic women also have a higher rate of abortion than other groups of U.S. women.
http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Catholic/2001/01/The-Catholic-Abortion-Paradox.aspx
More do as I say not as I do hypocrisy from the usual suspects.
JBlim on February 09 at 12:10 p.m.
Benaround, our country is not being destroyed by poor people, it’s being destroyed but moronic decisions by people like George Bush and his ilk, who started stupid wars and then gave everyone tax cuts. I’m not for handouts either, by the way.
Benaround on February 09 at 2:38 p.m.
Jblim and Seer: Fine…hunt us down and eliminate us.
greenlibertarian on February 09 at 10:50 p.m.
Benaround on February 09 at 2:38 p.m.
Jblim and Seer: Fine…hunt us down and eliminate us.
Unhinged.