02-10-2012, 04:11 AM
Grace62 wrote:
Anthony Picarello is the attorney for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (that must be a challenging job.)
Anyway, he says that it's not just a religious exemption from birth control coverage that the Bishops want. They want the part about mandatory coverage without copay removed from the health care bill in its entirety. In other words, NOBODY has to offer this.
Why? Because now they say this provision violates the religious freedom of individual Catholics who might own a business that offers health insurance.
Assuming those reports are true, what does that imply about what would have happened if the Obama administration had agreed all along to an extended exemption for religious institutions to include things like hospitals and colleges? To me it implies that the Bishops would still have raised a ruckus - the exemption that extends to hospitals and colleges isn't enough, we want religious exemptions for all Catholic business owners! Maybe Obama saw that coming and decided to offer up less so that he can give in on exempting hospitals and colleges as a compromise - without the Bishops getting the exemption they want for Catholic business owners.