Obama tries to calm alarm over birth control rule
Health insurance plans would foot bill for female employees
WASHINGTON— President Barack Obama, seeking to dampen a runaway political furor over birth control and religious liberty, unveiled a plan Friday that is meant to calm the right’s ire about a new administration rule that would require health insurance plans — including those offered by Roman Catholic hospitals, universities and charities — to provide free birth control to female employees. Casting himself as both “a citizen and a Christian” trying to balance individual liberty versus public health, Obama announced what administration officials called an “accommodation” that they said sought to demonstrate respect for religious beliefs. It will be similar to the path taken in several other states — particularly Hawaii — that have similar rules but would require that insurance companies, and not religious institutions, offer contraceptive coverage at no cost. “Religious liberty will be protected and a law that requires free preventive care will not discriminate against women,” Obama told reporters. He said the “political football” his foes were making of the new rule prompted him to speed up work on a solution. “It became clear that spending months hammering a solution was not an option.” But administration officials also acknowledged that the revision an- nounced Friday would most likely fail to mollify the Catholic bishops who have waged war against the rule or, for that matter, Republicans in Congress and on the presidential campaign trail who have joined the fight. At most, the compromise could potentially help the president shore up support among wavering Democrats, who have also expressed doubt about the rule, along with more liberal religious organizations and charities.
The administration plan most closely resembles Hawaii’s, in which employees at religious institutions whose health insurance plans do not offer free contraception can get birth control through side benefits. The difference, though, is that whereas in Hawaii the employees nominally pay for the benefits, the Obama proposal would shift the cost to insurers.
Administration officials hope that insurers will not object because in the long run, they argue, contraceptives end up saving more money than they cost because they prevent unwanted pregnancies.
The administration’s move won an important endorsement from Sister Carol Keehan, president and chief executive officer of the Catholic Health Association of the United States, whose support the White House sees as essential to show that the policy is backed by some religious organizations. In fact, Keehan’s endorsement was so important that Obama called her Friday morning — along with Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York and Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood — to inform her of the compromise.