Religion & American Law

More Adjustments to Contraception Mandate

More adjustments have been made to President Obama’s healthcare mandate which demands all contraception be offered free of charge to the individual. The mandate originally stated employers must provide insurance which offers contraception at no cost to the individual. Last month, the mandate was adjusted so that the fiscal responsibility lay on the insurer rather than the employer. A few weeks ago, the Obama administration moved the financial burden once more from the insurer to the administrator of insurance to ensure that religiously affiliated universities will not have to “pay, arrange, or refer” contraception for students. Also as outlined in recent statements regarding the mandate, the exemption which previously applied only to houses of worship has been expanded to include other “religiously affiliated groups”. The requirements of qualifying groups include that the purpose of the group must be motivated by religious values, the group must primarily employ people who share in those beliefs, and the group must have a nonprofit tax exemption status. The most recent statements about the mandate also state that all students at religiously affiliated universities may still receive contraception at no cost through insurance companies, despite the moral objections of the universities.

Responses to these adjustments have come from bishops, the Department of Health and Human Services, and religious universities. Mary Ann Walsh, a spokesperson for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops noted the administration’s disregard for their religious traditions by mentioning, “I’m surprised such important information would be announced late Friday on St. Patrick’s Day weekend as we prepare for the fourth Sunday of Lent”. Kathleen Sebelius, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, argues the adjustments to the mandate both respects the religious freedoms of the church and effectively provides women with affordable healthcare coverage. Steve Schneck, of the Catholic University of America seemed more appreciative of the Obama administration’s diligence in appeasing the Bishops, and suggests the Bishops should be happy about these changes. The final response from the US Conference of Bishops reiterated the religious liberties at stake, as well as the administration’s failure to include other religious entities in the exemption. The demand for all private health care insurers to provide contraception is still unreasonable and the exemption is still too narrow.

The Obama Administration’s decision to transfer the fiscal responsibility from the insurer to the administrator failed to appease the bishops in that the revision failed to include all religious entities, and therefore failed to address the concern of religious freedom of the church. The Department of Health and Human Services is looking to alleviate the financial concerns associated with the mandate and ensure that nonprofit religious groups are not held responsible in financially supporting the mandate. The U.S. Conference of Bishops is more concerned with what the mandate says and who it applies to, regardless of where the financial responsibility lays. For any progress to be made in appeasing religious groups, the Department of Health and Human Services will need to pay close attention to the grievances of the groups in opposition to the mandate rather than constructing compromises on fiscal foundations.

About : Raja CRN

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