Posted on 02/01/2013 7:49:54 AM PST by marshmallow
WASHINGTON (CNN) —Religiously affiliated organizations will be able to opt out of providing their employees with insurance coverage for contraceptives under updates to an Obama administration mandate that the Department of Health and Human Services is expected to unveil on Friday, according to two sources.
In March, after an uproar among religious institutions that didn't want to pay for contraceptives, the Obama administration offered several policy suggestions that would require the administrator of the insurance policy, not the religious institution or the insurer, to pay for contraception coverage and invited comment on those proposals.
The administration is expected to detail how it will handle two of the more controversial situations, said a source familiar with Friday's announcement.
"Religiously affiliated organizations will be given the option of exempting themselves from the requirement of providing their employees with contraceptive access or service that they are morally opposed to," said the source.
A spokesman for the Heath and Human Services Department refused to comment on the expected policy announcement.
(Excerpt) Read more at wcvb.com ...
They have to keep fighting.
So Sibelius can just ‘update the mandate’ which was part of a law passed by Congress? Why do they get to fix it around the edges?
“Conscientious objector” has been around since our beginnings. This is no different....and is applicable to an individual.
That’s not good enough. Any employer needs to be able to opt out. Contraception is not “health care”. It doesn’t prevent or treat a disease.
All the focus on religious objections to Obamacare overlooks the larger ECONOMIC LIBERTY rights crushed by Obamacare.
If I do not want to by brown beans, I shouldn’t be compelled to buy brown beans. My view can be based on religious motivations or willy nilly motivations.
That was when we were a nation of laws.
We are now a nation of fascists.
Shouldn’t this be titled, “Obama Caves”?
Jes sayin’. That’s what they say about Republicans every time they give up a point.
Something rotten in the state of . . .
Doesn’t help individuals who are still forced to subsidize abortifacients and sterilizations through higher insurance premiums and taxes.
To prefer a Catholic organization over the owner of Hobby Lobby is a violation of the Equal Protection clause and is completely unacceptable. [Note: I personally have no objection to the use of birth control, but I have a huge objection to this flagrant and unforgivable violation of the First Amendment and of the underlying human right.]
You are right... all individuals ( business owners included) should be able to exercise their religious freedoms, and hobby lobby and other businesses must keep fighting. This is true regarding issues of contraception as well as freedom of speech regarding the “normalization” of gay rights and other social issues.
This is however a victory for the catholic church ( and all denominations who have fought the mandate.) The US bishops just last week stated they would go to jail over this mandate. They have steadfastly fought this mandate without backing down, a show of courage and faith the administration more than likely didn’t expect. Keep it up. Truth will win when men and woman have the courage to proclaim it.
Sebellius can “update the mandate” because the law is written to give partisan appointees like her (with zero accountability to the electorate) that kind of power to issue regulations. This is why the phrase “government takeover of healthcare” is accurate. Bureaucrats are now in charge of what coverage you can purchase. Where you can purchase it. How much you pay for it. And ultimately the treatment choices available to you.
Then what the samhill was the Sandra Fluke kerfluffle about last spring? I thought it was an element of the Republican War On Women. I guess that Sebelius is waging a Democratic War on Women herself by this action.
As an aside, Limbaugh’s over-the-top attack on Fluke played into the Demoncrats hands by reinforcing the War On Women meme. His attack was ill-conceived and ill-waged.
Do not comply!
Mass non-compliance.
Stand together. Or hang separately.
As an aside, Limbaugh’s over-the-top attack on Fluke played into the Demoncrats hands by reinforcing the War On Women meme. His attack was ill-conceived and ill-waged.
**
I have been very suspicious of his motives ever since. He is much too savvy and experienced to do such a thing out of ignorance. Makes me wonder....
As for Fluke, I don’t want to pay for her birth control, but I would be willing to pony up for some shampoo for her, as she always looks to be in need of it.
Interesting point you make regarding Limbaugh’s motives.
I suspect that he cost Romney more than a few votes by his conduct with regard to Fluke.
Actually, now that I have reread the article, it's not. Ubama didn't give an inch. They still have to provide contraception/abortion services through a "third party."
Lying scumbags, all.
I agree, guess I jumped the gun. I wonder what the Bishops will do. I won’t hazard a guess either way.
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