A Republican-led appropriations bill in 2001, passed by a GOP Congress and enacted by President Bush, included a mandate that federal employee health insurance plans include contraception and birth control coverage. The legislation cleared the Senate by a voice vote and passed the House 334-94, winning the votes of incumbent Republicans including House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (VA) as well as Sens. Rob Portman (OH), Lindsey Graham (SC), Roger Wicker (MS), Kirk and others.
Quote:
Behind the political haze is a new poll showing that a majority of the public — including self-identified Catholics — favors the birth control rule when told what it actually entails. It exempts churches and houses of worship that primarily employ persons of the same faith and grants religious nonprofits that employ and serve persons of different beliefs one additional year to begin complying.
Closed? Over? Nothing is over until we say it is!!
There is a HUGE (ie. constitutional) difference between mandating contraceptive coverage for public employee health plans and mandating contraceptive coverage of religious institution employee health plans.
The issue was never whether houses of worship would be excluded. The issue was always about the social service agencies, the food banks, soup kitchens, employment assistance agencies, schools, universities, hospitals and all the other organizations run by Catholics as part of their outreach.
From a rights standpoint it wouldn't matter if there were near 100% agreement that this rule is a good thing if it violates the First Amendment right to free exercise of religion. The majoritarian impulse is exactly what needs to be protected against.
"When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives." Winter is Coming Now this is the Law of the Jungle—as old and as true as the sky; And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die. As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk, the Law runneth forward and back; For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.
