POLL: Should colleges be required to offer birth control?
A federal decision requiring employee health insurance plans at Catholic institutions to cover birth control is getting a full-court press from Republicans, led by Speaker of the House John Boehner, who declared war on the policy Wednesday.
Boehner is pushing the Obama administration to reverse the policy, saying it violates the First Amendment rights of religious organizations.
In Nebraska, Attorney General Jon Bruning sent a letter to state attorneys general across the country Tuesday, asking them to join a lawsuit fighting the rule. His office is coordinating the effort.
Last month, the Obama administration made a politically charged decision that the nation's new health care law requires insurance plans at Catholic institutions to include birth control without co-payments for employees. Churches are exempted, but church-affiliated institutions like universities, charities and hospitals are not. The rule does not require abortion coverage.
On Wednesday, President Barack Obama's aides promised to explore ways to make it more palatable to religious-affiliated institutions, perhaps by allowing some employers to make side insurance plans available that are not directly paid for by the institutions. However, White House officials insisted that the president would not back down.
But if Obama won't reverse the policy, Boehner said, Congress will.
"This . cannot stand, and will not stand," Boehner, a Catholic and Ohio Republican, said in a floor speech.
Boehner didn't promote a specific piece of repeal legislation, but Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., has been pushing a bill he authored last year that would counter the ruling. Rep. Lee Terry, also a Nebraska Republican, is one of the bill's 160 co-sponsors.
"At the heart of this matter is a fundamental American principle about rights of conscience and the strong arm of government forcing people to purchase things they might have objection to," Fortenberry said. "The bill is a bipartisan measure to repeal this unjust mandate and amend the 2010 health care law to preserve conscience rights and religious freedom."
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., has introduced similar legislation in the U.S. Senate.
In comments on the Senate floor this week, Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., criticized Obama for failing to exempt religious institutions from the contraception rule.
"The president has taken an unprecedented step in the wrong direction, grossly misusing authority to implement the new health care law," Johanns said.
Terry, Fortenberry and Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., also signed a letter this week opposing the policy.
Creighton University supports Fortenberry's legislation.
Creighton's insurance plan doesn't include birth control for employees. Contraceptives also aren't offered at the university's student health center.
The Rev. Andy Alexander, Creighton's vice president for university ministry, wants things to stay as they are.
"We cannot — we will not — buy into this unjust law," he said in an interview. "We follow the ethics . of Catholic health care."
Matthew Gillespie, president of Creighton's Students Union, said the group supports "the Catholic, Jesuit identity of Creighton University, and the values that it embodies." He said he is unaware of any student opposition to the school's stance on not providing birth control.
One local Catholic college, Omaha's all-female College of St. Mary, already covers contraceptives as part of its employee insurance plan. The plan is administered by the Educators Health Alliance, a statewide group that works to find affordable health insurance for 35,000 employees of K-12 school districts, community colleges and some private colleges.
Brittney Long, a spokeswoman for CSM, said it's more affordable for the school, with 154 employees, to be part of a larger group. The alliance's board of directors chooses an insurance plan. Individual schools cannot modify it.
Long said CSM supports reversing the health care decision on contraception.
"Health insurance reform is essential to our nation," she said. "However, there should be an exemption for those whose religious conscience disagrees with particular aspects of the reform."
Briar Cliff University, located in Sioux City, Iowa, administers its own employee health insurance plan and doesn't provide contraception.
"We have always supported the clear and consistent teachings of the Catholic Church regarding the inherent dignity of all human life," said Briar Cliff President Beverly A. Wharton. "We also hold with highest regard the God-given right to religious liberty acknowledged in the U.S. Constitution."
The Obama administration, in making its decision, relied on the recommendations of the Institute of Medicine, which concluded that birth control is medically necessary. But the Roman Catholic Church considers it morally wrong to prevent conception by any artificial means, including birth control pills, condoms, IUDs and sterilization.
That means Catholic-affiliated hospitals also might be drawn into the debate. A spokesman for Tenet Healthcare, which owns about 75 percent of Creighton University Medical Center, declined to comment. Alegent Health officials could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Alegent is a faith-based system partially sponsored by Catholic Health Initiatives.
Archbishop George Lucas of Omaha has joined the battle. While church leaders here are letting the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops lead the national fight, Lucas sent a letter to pastors that was read aloud Sunday during Mass at 147 parishes. The letter asks Catholics in the Omaha Archdiocese to pray about the issue and to contact their congressional representatives to pass legislation overturning the rule.
"In generations past, the church has always been able to count on the faithful to stand up and protect her sacred rights and duties," Lucas wrote. "I hope and trust she can count on this generation of Catholics to do the same."
Lincoln Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz also issued a letter calling on Roman Catholics to fight the federal decision.
This report includes material from the Associated Press and the New York Times.
Contact the writer:
402-444-3100, maggie.obrien@owh.com
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