02-09-2012, 05:37 PM
Grace62 wrote:
It's not about mandates, it's about access. Federal law now says all American women must have access to birth control, among other basic health services not previously covered in many plans. Employers don't have the right to block that access, whether they are religious or not.
This part I have trouble with - I'm not sure of the distinction between mandates and access that you are trying to make. But the rest of what you say seems dead on.
Grace62 wrote: Religious institutions are not required to prescribe, recommend, sell, or dispense the birth control. They just cannot tell health insurance plans that they can't cover it.
That's a good perspective to keep in mind.
Grace62 wrote: And the largest Catholic institutions in the country already have insurance plans that cover birth control, and it has not been a big deal to them, at all. And they were given the option to opt out, but chose not to. Haven't heard a peep out of the Bishops about that. Because they are well aware that the vast majority of their female employees use birth control, Catholic or not.
Plus there are already eight states that don't have religious exemptions in their regulations that require health insurers to cover contraception.
Grace62 wrote: This is nothing but political.
It's hard not see the all-of-the-sudden major pushing of this issue doesn't have a lot of political motivation - the politics of the presidential election in particular.