After growing pressure from both sides of the political aisle and religious leaders across the country, President Obama announced what he calls a solution to constitutional concerns surrounding his birth control mandate.
The controversy ignited on Jan. 20. That's when Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced a new regulatory rule that requires religious institutions like Catholic hospitals, charities, and univeristies to provide insurance coverage of contraceptives despite church teachings against the use of contraceptives.
President Obama said that often non-Catholics work at Catholic institutions. These are employees who have no moral objection to the use of contraceptives - employees who would appreciate insurance coverage of birth control pills. Those people, he said, deserve access to free contraceptives.
However, the president said he also wanted to find a way around concerns about religious liberty.
He announced his solution Friday morning. It allows religious institutions to sign contracts with insurance providers that explicitly state contraceptives aren't covered. However, men and women who work for those institutions can go directly to their insurance company to receive free contraceptives.
Since preventing unplanned pregnancies saves insurance companies money, senior White House officials say free contraception is cost neutral.
Here are the president's full remarks followed by some reaction. This controversy is far from over.Equitable solution that protects religious liberty and ensures that every woman has access to the care that she needs.
President Barack Obama
Hello, everybody. (Laughter.) I was actually going to say good morning. But I guess it's afternoon by now.
As part of the health care reform law that I signed last year, all insurance plans are required to cover preventive care at no cost. That means free check-ups, free mammograms, immunizations and other basic services. We fought for this because it saves lives and it saves money -- for families, for businesses, for government, for everybody. That's because it's a lot cheaper to prevent an illness than to treat one.
We also accepted a recommendation from the experts at the Institute of Medicine that when it comes to women, preventive care should include coverage of contraceptive services such as birth control. In addition to family planning, doctors often prescribe contraception as a way to reduce the risks of ovarian and other cancers, and treat a variety of different ailments. And we know that the overall cost of health care is lower when women have access to contraceptive services.
Nearly 99 percent of all women have relied on contraception at some point in their lives -- 99 percent. And yet, more than half of all women between the ages of 18 and 34 have struggled to afford it. So for all these reasons, we decided to follow the judgment of the nation's leading medical experts and make sure that free preventive care includes access to free contraceptive care.
Whether you're a teacher, or a small businesswoman, or a nurse, or a janitor, no woman's health should depend on who she is or where she works or how much money she makes. Every woman should be in control of the decisions that affect her own health. Period. This basic principle is already the law in 28 states across the country.
Now, as we move to implement this rule, however, we've been mindful that there's another principle at stake here -- and that's the principle of religious liberty, an inalienable right that is enshrined in our Constitution. As a citizen and as a Christian, I cherish this right.
In fact, my first job in Chicago was working with Catholic parishes in poor neighborhoods, and my salary was funded by a grant from an arm of the Catholic Church. And I saw that local churches often did more good for a community than a government program ever could, so I know how important the work that faith-based organizations do and how much impact they can have in their communities.
I also know that some religious institutions -- particularly those affiliated with the Catholic Church -- have a religious objection to directly providing insurance that covers contraceptive services for their employees. And that's why we originally exempted all churches from this requirement -- an exemption, by the way, that eight states didn't already have.
And that's why, from the very beginning of this process, I spoke directly to various Catholic officials, and I promised that before finalizing the rule as it applied to them, we would spend the next year working with institutions like Catholic hospitals and Catholic universities to find an
Now, after the many genuine concerns that have been raised over the last few weeks, as well as, frankly, the more cynical desire on the part of some to make this into a political football, it became clear that spending months hammering out a solution was not going to be an option, that we needed to move this faster. So last week, I directed the Department of Health and Human Services to speed up the process that had already been envisioned. We weren't going to spend a year doing this; we're going to spend a week or two doing this.
Today, we've reached a decision on how to move forward. Under the rule, women will still have access to free preventive care that includes contraceptive services -- no matter where they work. So that core principle remains. But if a woman's employer is a charity or a hospital that has a religious objection to providing contraceptive services as part of their health plan, the insurance company -- not the hospital, not the charity -- will be required to reach out and offer the woman contraceptive care free of charge, without co-pays and without hassles.
The result will be that religious organizations won't have to pay for these services, and no religious institution will have to provide these services directly. Let me repeat: These employers will not have to pay for, or provide, contraceptive services. But women who work at these institutions will have access to free contraceptive services, just like other women, and they'll no longer have to pay hundreds of dollars a year that could go towards paying the rent or buying groceries.
Now, I've been confident from the start that we could work out a sensible approach here, just as I promised. I understand some folks in Washington may want to treat this as another political wedge issue, but it shouldn't be. I certainly never saw it that way. This is an issue where people of goodwill on both sides of the debate have been sorting through some very complicated questions to find a solution that works for everyone. With today's announcement, we've done that. Religious liberty will be protected, and a law that requires free preventive care will not discriminate against women.
We live in a pluralistic society where we're not going to agree on every single issue, or share every belief. That doesn't mean that we have to choose between individual liberty and basic fairness for all Americans. We are unique among nations for having been founded upon both these principles, and our obligation as citizens is to carry them forward. I have complete faith that we can do that.
Thank you very much, everybody.
Spokesman for Spkr. John Boehner/(R) Ohio
"The Catholic Church and others in our nation's religious community are not yet convinced the President's mandate doesn't constitute an attack on religious freedom, which has been a fundamental American right for more than 200 years. It's clear that these organizations were not included in developing the so-called compromise offered today. The President should take up the Bishops' offer to find a resolution that respects all Americans' Constitutional rights. In the meantime, the House of Representatives, led by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, will continue to work toward a legislative solution that achieves that same goal."
James Salt, Executive Director, Catholics United
"Catholics United has been calling on both sides of this heated debate to work towards today's win-win solution. President Obama has shown us that he is willing to rise above the partisan fray to deliver an actual policy solution that both meets the health care needs of all employees and respects the religious liberty of Catholic institutions."
Matt Smith/President, Catholic Advocate:
“Our religious liberties are an inalienable right not a privilege that can be changed on a whim. Our faith-based institutions should not be forced by this administration or any in the future to violate their beliefs."
E.J. Dionne Jr./Opinion Columnist
"President Obama did today what he should have done at the very beginning: He honored the fact that religious groups, including the Catholic Church, had legitimate religious liberty claims in the battle over a contraception mandate under the new health care law. And he did so while still holding to his commitment to expanding contraception coverage as broadly as possible."
***UPDATE: President Obama will make an announcement regarding the HHS rule today at 12:15pm. Stay tuned to CBNNews.com for the latest.***
The Obama Administration has stepped right into the middle of a political and moral mess it doesn't want or need right now. While President Obama is talking about helping responsible homeowners refinance their mortgages, his staff is answering questions about religious freedom.
It started when the administration, via the Department of Health, ruled that the part of the president's health care law that deals with preventative services should be interpreted to mean virtually all working women should have access to free birth control, the morning after pill, and sterilization (that includes men, too).
The department ruled all employers that offer health insurance plans, except churches and houses of worship, must cover the services. That includes Catholic hospitals, universities, and charities.
Certainly many Catholics break with church teachings and use birth control. That's not the point.& The point can be demonstrated using scene that plays out on playgrounds across America every day:
Big sister yells at little brother for doing something that irritated her.
Her friends join in.
Big sister immediately takes up for little brother because while she can yell at him - no one else can.
The "big sister" is Catholics, the "little brother" is the Catholic Church and the "friends" represent the Obama Adminstration. Catholics are saying, 'We can argue and debate church teachings, but don't tell us what to do Big Brother.'
Certainly some Americans are thrilled by the rule and are coming to the president's defense. New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said:
"I am dumbfounded that in the year 2012 we still have to fight over birth control. The power to decide whether or not each individual woman uses contraception should be with that woman -- not her boss. We will not stand for these attempts to undermine the ability of women to make their own decisions."
But a growing coalition of unlikely allies is speaking out against the rule. That includes Democratic Sen. John Kerry, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, Catholic Bishops along with conservative and liberal Catholics and Protestants.
The rule was a calculated political risk for the president. It has energized female activists who are instrumental to his fundraising and campaign work. However, he's unified Catholics against him and that's dangerous because Catholic voting patterns are unpredictable.
The administration has given religious organizations until August of 2013 to comply with the rule. Until then the Obama administration says it will work with concerned parties to impliment the rule.