Contraception Changes, Issue Not Resolved

The President came out and announced he has made “accommodations” to his controversial Obamacare legislation in the area of contraception. The law requires things like the pill, the day after, everything but condoms were to be covered. While there are religious implications and protest, there is another issue even larger, power.

Catholic and other religious organizations have spoken out about the revelations of having to include this coverage for their employees. It is their belief that the use of contraception is a sin; it goes against their teachings, their principals. So it should not surprise anyone when they became upset when they found out they were going to be forced to include it in the healthcare coverage they give their employees. Not only were the religious entities rallying against the mandate, law makers on both side of the aisle were also speaking out against it.

So faced with increasing pressure from religious groups and Catholic lawmakers in both parties over the new federal requirement for birth control coverage, the Obama administration announced an "accommodation". The change was to require the insurer, rather than the employer, to provide contraceptive coverage free of charge for women employed by the entities in question. Obama is presenting this as the company is opting out while the woman can make her choice and call the insurance company direct to receive the contraception. Obama also believes the “It actually makes financial sense for insurance companies to cover birth control because unwanted pregnancies and resulting complications cost more than contraception and sterilization”.

But Obama’s “accommodation” does not seem too popular. Originally the Catholic bishops have called the new health coverage rule "an attack on religious freedom" and argue that all employers who object to contraception, not just faith-based organizations, should be exempt from having to provide it to their employees. Several hours after President Obama unveiled his “accommodation” proposal, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) releasedan official statement signed by five leading prelates. The bishops said that the revised plan “continues to involve needless government intrusion in the internal governance of religious institutions, and to threaten government coercion of religious people and groups to violate their most deeply held convictions.” Shortly thereafter the Assembly of Orthodox Bishops in North America just issued a formal statement of protest against the HHS mandate in which the Assembly, representing all53 Orthodox bishops in North America, references their complete agreement with the statements of the USCCB.

The President will need to go back to the drawing board as this issue will not go away, it will be ignored by the media so it may slow down, but the election season is upon us. Once the Republican candidate becomes clear, this issue will resurface in full force. The Catholic and religious vote is important to Obama, it was one of the reasons for his election in the first place. In 2008, Obama carried the Catholic vote, but today he only has 40% support from that group. Catholics are on both sides of the aisle, so Obama will not win without them.

So are the religious entities really exempt from paying since it was all laid on the insurance companies? Of course not. Nothing is free; everything has a cost associated with it. Do you really think insurance companies will absorb the cost? They will estimate the cost and add it to all insurance policies; therefore those religious entities will still be paying for contraception.

UPDATE 2/13/2012

"We have set out our policy," the Chief of Staff for President Obama, Lew said. "We are going to finalize it in the final rules” He noted that the revision had earned support from liberal Catholics and lay groups. "The solution that we reached is consistent with those core principles. That's why it got the support ofPlanned Parenthood," Lew said. Basically the Obama administration has told the Catholics it is my way and tough on you. I guess Planned Parenthood knows more than the Pope. Perhaps Dictator Obama should read the first amendment and learn to follow it.

UPDATE 2/13/2012

A national poll asking if the President addressed the issue or not.

Does the White House shift on contraceptive coverage address concerns about religious liberty?No, it still includes a contraceptive ‘mandate’ -– and that must be stripped 82.9%
Yes, but this shouldn’t have been controversial in the first place 5.9%
Yes, this gives women vital access to coverage while respecting religious beliefs 5.3%
No, but we can move on 2.34%

So I will add a poll here and let's see if it mirrors the national poll

My American View

I have two issues with the President on this; the first is the power move. How dare the President tell people what they will do or not do to their bodies? I can same the same about religion but since I am not religious I will defer and not include them in the power argument. But the President has shown time and time again by his actions he has no use for the Constitution and what it says. Obama reminds me of one of those who say the rules do not apply to them or do as I say, not as I do. Obamacare is the perfect example of that. A law put together behind closed doors, shoved through and down our throats. Who can forget those immortal words of Pelosi “we need to pass it to see what’s in it”? Obamacare is a direct result of congress not reading bills. But I read it. I warned many what was in it, even recently on my show I reminded everyone what was coming due this year. I had an irate Democrat call in and give me a hard time, calling me a liar, an Obama basher, just attacking me. Part of the conversation was about this issue, he said I was making it up to make Obama look like a Muslim. I never did figure what one had to do with the other, but I hope he calls this week to collect his dose of I told you so.

Back to power; if Obama does get away with this, what is next, mandating me to drink milk and what kind of milk. Or dictate what I can eat, oh wait Mrs. Obama is already trying to do that, or anything else that strikes his fancy. Maybe the next mandate is to force us to buy that Chevy Volt Obama loves so much that he dumps over 200,000 thousand tax dollars into every car sold. Perhaps making contraception for free is the first step on population control? Ok that one was out there, but who knows what this guy is thinking these days.

Some are claiming that the reason for the pill, the morning after and other items and drugs were to promote the abortion platform. While I am not sure if that argument has any merit, it did make me have a question. If the issue was truly about contraception and not abortion, then why were condoms and vasectomies not included on the list for coverage?

The forcing of views on people is getting out of hand. As everyone knows, I am not religious. I would never consider telling anyone of faith what to think about contraception, abortion or anything personal. Take my grandparents for example. My Grandma was an extremely devout Catholic; she almost became a Nun in her youth. Obviously my grandparents did not use them because of the size of the family. The family joke is Grandma was hard of hearing. Grandma and Grandpa went to bed. Grandpa would turn to Grandma and say “want to go to sleep or what”. Grandma would say what, BOOM, another kid. But never in a million years would I ever say hey enough is enough, time to use something. Who the hell am I to tell someone what they can or cannot do? The arrogance behind such a statement is too high to measure.

My final question on this is why did law makers speak out now, where were they when Obamacare was still being debated? I will let you assign the blame there.

Time has come for Washington to become professionals again and do the work of the people properly. Not only properly, but represent the will of the people. Shoddy work for working people results in job termination. That sounds to me what we need to do in November, serve up some job termination notices.

UPDATE 2/17/2012:

There were hearings on capital hill today on this issue. The Dems were strongly on the attack under orders from Obama to do so. They accused the Republicans of "trying to embarrass the President on an issue he considers closed". Well listening to the priests, rabbis and the rest, the issue is far from over and their biggest complaint was the arrogance of the Whitehouse to just ignore the many requests to speak with the President. Obama can negotiate with the Taliban, but can not negotiate or even take a phone call from the American Clergy.

That is my American View, what is yours.

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