Catholic Leaders Rip Obama on Contraception Coverage

Catholic organization health plans will have to pay
By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 25, 2012 12:31 AM CST
Updated Jan 25, 2012 1:00 AM CST
Catholic Leaders Rip Obama on Contraception Coverage
President Obama delivers his State of the Union address yesterday. He's in trouble with Catholic leaders over his decision not to exempt Catholic employers from covering contraception in health plans.   (Getty Images)

Catholic leaders are blasting the Obama administration's new decision to require religious organization's health plans to cover workers' contraceptives. Several priests railed against the move from the pulpit at Sunday Mass. "Moral" exemptions for contraceptive coverage in health plans exist for churches and other houses of worship, but the break will not be extended to places like Catholic schools or hospitals, reports the Wall Street Journal. President Obama phoned New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan last week to tell him of the decision. Dolan has called it an "unconscionable" attack on religious freedom.

The decision is dicey for Obama, whose Catholic support helped him win the last election. The issue is likely to be a "backdrop to future relations," said a spokeswoman for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. "It's too big to ignore," she added ominously. "The elephant is tramping around in the sanctuary." Rosa DeLauro, a Catholic congresswoman from Connecticut, supports the administration. "Contraception is about preventing unintended pregnancy," she said. "I think that they did what they needed to do." About 98% of sexually active Catholic women use some kind of contraception, according to the Guttmacher Institute. (More Catholics stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X