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Home Front: Politix
Feds CAN Tell Religious Groups to Buy Abortion Coverage
2012-01-21
So much for separation of church and state.
Most church-affiliated organizations will be required to offer their workers coverage of birth control as part of their health plans, the Obama administration announced Friday, but they can get more time than other employers to comply.
They have to pay for Nuns to have abortion coverage, so that it's cheaper for the unregistered Democrats.
The decision came as a bitter disappointment to organizations ranging from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to the National Association of Evangelicals, which had lobbied hard for a broad exemption for employers that oppose birth control on religious grounds.

"This is nothing less than a direct attack on religion and First Amendment rights," said Franciscan Sister Jane Marie Klein, head of a system of 13 Catholic hospitals in Indiana and Illinois.

The rule, which was first announced last summer and which has drawn more than 200,000 comments, requires private insurance not merely to include birth control, but to do so without out-of-pocket charges. It will take effect beginning Aug. 1, as plans renew.
Which means somehow the total cost will go up. Or else pharmacies will find themselves short of supply. The iron laws of supply and demand don't go into abeyance just because the Democratic government said so. This result will be unexpected, even by Professor Krugman of the New York Times..
Especially by Professor Krugman...
From the beginning, the rule exempted employers such as churches whose primary purpose is to inculcate religious beliefs and that mainly employ and serve individuals who share those beliefs. Religious advocates argued that this definition was too narrow, excluding a wide range of church-affiliated universities, hospitals and schools.

On Friday, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius unveiled a small change: Religious organizations will be allowed an extra year to comply with the requirement. But the rule itself and the types of employers covered by it will remain unchanged, she said.
Posted by:Bobby

#7  The high court will decide Obamacare over the summer. If the mandate is struck down, I would think that this would not stand either.
Posted by: JohnQC   2012-01-21 22:21  

#6  I am a Catholic and remember that our church hosted a speaker that pitched the benefits of socialized medicine with respect to justice in the run up to the enactment of Obamacare. I had a discussion with our pastor via e-mail that I didn't trust the socialists not to fill the system with provisions that were not going to be compatible with Catholic faith. He is pretty disappointed in the end result. Certainly the Dems have written off observant Catholics along with all Evangelical Protestants.

This Executive Order stuff is pure pandering for votes. Getting condoms, a vasectomy and an abortion with no out of pocket expenses while you pay a deductible for a heart transplant will not stand up in any court outside of Alice in Wonderland. The policy has a built in delay to encourage donors to send money to liberals.
Posted by: Super Hose   2012-01-21 20:09  

#5  Yes, the Government can tell these groups what to do. I can tell my senator not to act like a maroon, but he won't listen. This doesn't mean those groups should obey.

The thing is, why is contraception a proper target of medical insurance at all? This isn't a religious rant. I mean, God told Adam "P'ru Ur'vu. [Be fruitful and multiply.]" He didn't say, "Right now." After all, I have automobile insurance. It doesn't pay for my oil changes, gasoline, inspections, or other routine maintenance. It pays for the consequences of accidents and mishaps that damage the car, or another's property, or a human life. And, I might be denied coverage if I deliberately crash.

The purpose of contraception is to prevent the natural consequences of a voluntary act. At least, I hope it is voluntary; if not, that's a police problem. You can't even say that the purpose is to prevent sickness; pregnancy is not an illness (with some rare exceptions—look up molar pregnancy and ectopic pregnancy).

So, why do contraceptives need to be subsidized by insurance companies? It's a mature market; the wide demand and standardized production techniques would indicate that without interference from third parties that there would be an equilibrium price where companies would get a reasonable profit and users would pay a reasonable price.

So, the economics is distorted. The cure is to remove the distortions from the economics and let buyers and sellers make reasonable and rational decisions.

But what's the fun in that?
Posted by: Eric Jablow   2012-01-21 18:23  

#4  Obama is just making a political issue to rally his base. 50% of catholics voted for Obama because they believe social justice trumps the churches argument of life.

As for catholic hospitals shutting down; that would be an added benefit to Obama and company; the more poor relying on the GIvernment the better. That would just make more support for obamacare.
Posted by: Airandee   2012-01-21 17:19  

#3  another incentive to crawl across broken glass (if need be) to vote theses assholes out of power in November.
Posted by: Frank G   2012-01-21 16:33  

#2  I wonder how they'd like it if all the Catholic hospitals in the country shut down?
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia   2012-01-21 16:30  

#1  Feds CAN Tell Religious Groups to Buy Abortion Coverage

No. They can't. :)
Posted by: Snease Hupuper4845   2012-01-21 16:16  

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