Debate Over Contraceptives: McConnell Calls Obama’s Decision ‘Abhorrent’
EmailAs White House advisers indicated they could potentially seek a compromise on the rule requiring many Catholic institutions to offer birth control and other contraception services as part of employee’s health care coverage, Republicans on Capitol Hill today laid into the president.
“The Obama administration’s decision to force religious hospitals, charities, and schools to comply with the mandate that violates their religious views is abhorrent to the foundational principles of our nation,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said on the Senate floor this evening. “No one in the United States — no one — should ever be compelled by their government to choose between violating their religious beliefs and being penalized for refusing. Yet that’s precisely what this mandate would do.”
McConnell said the ruling should send a “chill up the spine” of people of all faiths and even those of no faith.
“The Obama administration has crossed a dangerous line,” McConnell said. “This is a huge mistake that I hope the administration is currently reconsidering. And if they don’t, Congress will act.”
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said that if the administration does not back down Congress will do “everything within our power to repeal it.”
“If the administration doesn’t take care of this administratively, I believe it will be taken care of legislatively,” Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said today on the Senate floor. “When you’ve got bishops, when you’ve got church leaders, when you’ve got people that have spent their life dedicated to hospitals and schools and other institutions that reflect their faith principles, you can’t just suddenly decide that those don’t matter or they can be changed in a year.”
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said that at today’s weekly policy luncheon the Senate Democrats had a “good discussion about this issue.”
“The caucus totally supports the president,” Reid said.
Later Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., admitted that at least one Democrat in the room raised questions about the new rule: Sen. Bob Casey from Pennsylvania.
Multiple Democratic senators, mostly women, took to the Senate floor this evening, coordinating their floor speeches to follow one another, to defend President Obama’s decision on contraceptives.
“The policy represents one of the greatest advances for women’s health in decades. Sadly, there’s an aggressive and misleading campaign to deny this benefit to women,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. “I applaud the president for his decision and for putting women’s health above politics.”
“I believe women in this country deserve respect. Some of them don’t want access to birth control. They have a religion that dictates their views and they have every right to make that decision. And others decide that they need to have access to birth control,” Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said.
Best Commencement Speeches of 2012 
Joe Biden Recalls Death of Wife, Daughter
No religion should ever enter into secular activities like providing healthcare insurance without first understanding the law of the land. They want their tax exempt status, but they want to get into big business at the same time. It violates the rights of non-religious employees within their school or hospital if they are allowed to impress their dogma on the employees. If they can’t obey the law, then they need to go back to just being a church. Funny how they spent hundreds of years opposing usury, yet had coins minted with saints on them as part of the deal to allow the creation of financial instruments in ancient Florence. The Catholic church needs to get a grip. Besides, this is not new. It has been the state level regulation in many states for quite some time now They are just on a tangent to try and sully President Obama even though the federal policy mirrors the states. Nice try….give it up.
Posted by: RN in Indy | February 7, 2012, 7:36 pm 7:36 pm
The Catholic church needs to get a grip. ====The Catholics help to put Obama in office in 2008. Obama just alienated them. I hope every Catholic comes out to vote this November. Obama one and done.
Posted by: ginger | February 7, 2012, 8:33 pm 8:33 pm
King Obama dictates to the plebs that each one must purchase health insurance –this is being decided in the Supreme Court wasting more of our money and time when there is no question it violates the Constitution!! King Obama continues his assault on our freedoms only this time it is our religious freedom that is being attacked. Fortunately the Church challenged King Obama’s intrusion into our religion. How many times can the Democrats/Independents make excuses for Obama before they will do what is right for America???
Posted by: whathappened08 | February 7, 2012, 8:40 pm 8:40 pm
RN two points: 1) The provision in the constitution is that the secular government should make no laws establishing a national religion OR prohibiting the free exercise of it. Whether you agree with the position of not, the Catholic Church embraces a pro-life stance as a core value. Thus, forcing a Catholic entity to provide for abortion services is ABSOLUTELY prohibiting their free exercise of religion. What other rights in our constitution, in your opinion, should be done away with? 2) Your argument that since there are currently states that currently force the Catholic Church to provide or pay for abortion services fails to justify doing it on a national scale. However, since you bring it up, please identify a state where the Catholic Church has been forced to provide or pay for abortion services?
Posted by: Don | February 7, 2012, 10:51 pm 10:51 pm
The comments by Shaheen and Boxer show how badly they (and apparently most of the Democratic caucus) are missing the point. The issue here is not whether women will have be denied access to birth control. There are PLENTY of providers available. The issue is whether the Catholic Church will be forced to provide it. If they are penalized for adhering to core value of faith, or worse, forced to violate it, we will have taken a dangerous turn away from freedom in the United States.
Posted by: Don | February 7, 2012, 11:24 pm 11:24 pm
I am a Catholic and I do not understand this. The Catholic Church is NOT just a Religious Organization, they are an Employer. Why do Religious Organizations get to live by a separate rule than any other employer? I am sure there are other employers not affiliated with the church who are opposed to birth control but have to provide it. Women are not being forced to take birth control, but if they work in a hospital that takes Federal dollars and happens to be run by the Catholic Church or Jewish or any other religious Org, why are they, in effect, valued less? I would like to see a ONE DAY walk out of these businesses by women who do not have the coverage currently but want it. Let’s see what the effect is.
Posted by: pksk531 | February 8, 2012, 9:01 am 9:01 am
People need to take responsibility for their own moral stance. If you don’t believe in contraception, take the option on any insurance form and don’t pay for it. The government can’t make the choice for you.
The government can only provide a program that has to be available to all Americans. As long as that program gives a choice, what’s the problem? The conservative republicans believe the government should push a moral position.
For those who want to use contraceptives the option is open.
Posted by: tmferretti | February 8, 2012, 9:31 am 9:31 am
This Obama administration has been taking away our freedoms and liberties one by one and now they have entered into our religious rights and beliefs. If they can tell the Catholic church what they have to do or not do what is next? What will they tell your church the Baptist, Methodist, etc that you have to do or change?
Posted by: Freedom | February 8, 2012, 9:51 am 9:51 am
If the Catholics leadership was so very concerned about their parishoners…. why have they not taken a greater stand against the pedophiles within their organization? I’m puzzled by that.
Otherwise -
This contraception issue is ridiculous. If they don’t want to provide this in their insurance offerings to employees of hospitals or universities — they SHOULD lose their governement funding for these endeavors. Period.
Go it alone on this issue. Go it alone on the money.
End of story.
Posted by: Jane | February 8, 2012, 12:08 pm 12:08 pm
Do the church hospitals and schools accept federal money? Do they accept non-religion based insurance? Do they accept patients who are not of the same religion? Then, I don’t see how they can refuse to comply with the requirement for insurance to cover contraceptives. The individuals covered by that health insurance are the ones who must choose, based on their religious beliefs, whether or not to use contraceptives. Freedom of religion includes freedom from having any religion forced on us, too.
Posted by: 21st Century | February 17, 2012, 4:35 pm 4:35 pm