Contraception

University Of Notre Dame Sues Obama Administration For Contraception Mandate

Sahil Kapur | May 21, 2012, 11:36AM

University of Notre Dame President Rev. John Jenkins and President Barack Obama walk together at the university's 2009 commencement.

The University of Notre Dame on Monday filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration over its requirement that employer-provided insurance plans include birth control coverage.

The issue was the subject of a heated firestorm earlier this year. The administration tweaked its rule to accommodate religious nonprofits like Catholic universities and hospitals. Churches are exempt. Republicans continued to demand that Obama reverse the rule entirely but backed down after receiving immense blowback.

"Let me say very clearly what this lawsuit is not about: it is not about preventing women from having access to contraception, nor even about preventing the Government from providing such services," John Jenkins, the university's president, said in a statement. "We do not seek to impose our religious beliefs on others; we simply ask that the Government not impose its values on the University when those values conflict with our religious teachings."

President Obama delivered the 2009 commencement speech at the University of Notre Dame. Others institutions such as Ave Maria University, as well as several Republican-led states, have also sued to block the mandate.

Read the UND lawsuit below.

University Of Notre Dame Federal Complaint Against Dept Of Health And Human Services

Contraception

Republicans Try To Erase The Contraception Wars

Sahil Kapur | April 10, 2012, 5:56AM

After a series of public embarrassments, and faced with polling data that suggests the GOP agenda is driving women toward the Democratic Party, Republicans may be tacitly acknowledging that kowtowing to their conservative base in an election year has some ugly ramifications.

But that doesn't mean they're chastened. They're just hoping everyone forgets.

Congressional Republicans abandoned their push to roll back the Obama administration's contraception guarantee for female employees weeks ago. But now they're hoping that they can wipe the crux of what Democrats have termed the GOP "war on women" off the books entirely.

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John McCain

McCain: GOP Needs To Give Up On Contraception

Sahil Kapur | March 18, 2012, 11:48AM

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)

Republicans need to "get off" the issue of contraception and "fix" the perception that the party has spurned women, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) declared Sunday.

The party's 2008 standard-bearer, now a Mitt Romney surrogate, was asked by David Gregory on NBC's Meet The Press whether he thinks that "there is something of a war on women among Republicans."

"I think we have to fix that," McCain said. "I think that there is a perception out there, because of the way that this whole contraception issue played out. We need to get off of that issue, in my view. I think we ought to respect the right of women to make choices in their lives, and make that clear, and get back on to what the American people really care about: jobs and the economy."

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North Carolina

N.C. County Kills Family-Planning Funds

Evan McMorris-Santoro | March 12, 2012, 6:40PM

The elected county commissioners in New Hanover County, N.C. are sick and tired of using taxpayer funds to assist women who can't keep their legs closed. And so on Monday they voted to reject a state grant designed to cover family-planning services.

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Steny Hoyer

Hoyer Unleashes Stinging Rebuke Of Rush Limbaugh

Sahil Kapur | March 6, 2012, 1:20PM

A rare apology from Rush Limbaugh has done little to quell the uproar over the radio host's "slut" comment from last week -- and Democrats are working hard to keep it that way.

At his weekly pen and pad, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) launched into an unprompted rebuke of Limbaugh for calling Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke a "slut" and "prostitute" for her recent testimony contraception and health insurance.

"I want to speak about an issue which was as outrageous an attack as I've seen recently," Hoyer told reporters Tuesday. "Rush Limbaugh's attack on Sandra Fluke was beyond the pale. Indefensible. Vicious. Intimidating to others. ... And it demeans the public faith."

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Blunt Amendment

Democrats Narrowly Block Blunt Amendment

Sahil Kapur | March 1, 2012, 11:58AM

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

Senate Republicans voted overwhelmingly Thursday in favor of a measure that would permit any employer to deny services in their health plan, such as birth control, that they deem morally objectionable. The amendment offered by Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) was struck down 51-48 in a motion to table, thanks to virulent opposition by Democrats and one GOP holdout. Democrats are eager to hang the vote around the GOP's neck in the upcoming elections.

The only Republican who crossed over to help kill the measure, which was aimed at repealing the Obama administration's birth control mandate, was retiring Sen. Olympia Snowe (ME). Dems are defending 23 Senate seats in the November elections, and running against a GOP they can portray as anti-birth control could help them in some tough races. Democrats are salivating at the prospect of using the votes of vulnerable members, including GOP Sens. Scott Brown (MA) and Dean Heller (NV), against them this year.

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Contraception

Limbaugh On Student Who Testified On Contraception: 'Slut'

Pema Levy | March 1, 2012, 11:32AM

Georgetown University Law Student Sandra Fluke testified in an unofficial House hearing last week that the cost of contraception created a significant financial burden -- up to $3,000 over the course of law school -- that prohibited one of her fellow students from obtaining hormonal contraception. Because of a medical issue, not having access to birth control ultimately resulted in her losing an ovary. Some conservatives had a word for that condition: slut.

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Contraception

GOP Struggles To Contain Birth Control Fallout

Brian Beutler and Sahil Kapur | March 1, 2012, 5:45AM

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) conducts a news conference along with fellow GOP members on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on November 30, 2011.

Top Republicans are working overtime to mask palpable concern within their party over a Thursday Senate vote to roll back an Obama administration rule requiring most employers to provide workers with contraceptive coverage in their health benefits.

Yet despite a growing sense that the GOP has veered into politically dangerous territory, a full-scale retreat would embarrass the party, and alienate a powerful segment of its conservative base. And that's left Republicans little choice but to press ahead, illustrating the dangers they'll face if election year politicking turns further from the economy toward culture war fights that voters thought were settled decades ago.

The measure in question was authored by Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) -- a member of the GOP's leadership team -- and would allow employers who provide health benefits to deny coverage of particular services -- including contraception -- for reasons of conscience. Blunt introduced the legislation at the height of the contretemps over the Obama administration's contraception rule, and Republicans pushed hard to secure a vote for it as an amendment to an unrelated transportation bill. But according to a top Democratic aide briefed on negotiations between Republican and Democratic leaders, something changed in recent days -- and in the end Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) took it upon himself to force the issue.

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Chuck Schumer

Dems Salivate Over Coming GOP Birth Control Misstep

Brian Beutler | February 24, 2012, 12:44PM

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

The GOP's ongoing push to allow employers to deny contraceptive -- or any -- health care coverage has Democrats in an amusing position: outraged that the Republican party has reignited the culture wars, and simultaneously salivating over what they believe is a deadly GOP political misstep.

In the days ahead, Senate Republicans, led by Missouri's Roy Blunt, will vote on a controversial amendment to pending transportation legislation -- one that would enshrine employers' right to limit health care benefits for moral reasons.

On a conference call with reporters Friday morning, top Senate Democrats were of two minds: incensed that the GOP is pushing a non-germane issue so hard, and also ecstatic about it.

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Birth Control

Why Dems Think They're Winning The Contraception Battle

Pema Levy | February 23, 2012, 4:17PM

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

When it comes to the contraception debate, Democrats and Republicans have dug their trenches and settled in for a long battle. The latest skirmish Thursday morning was an unofficial hearing held by Democratic Steering and Policy Committee to hear testimony in support of the administration's contraception rule.

Both sides think this is a winning issue for them. Thursday's hearing featured the testimony of Sandra Fluke, a third year law student at Georgetown University Law Center, a Jesuit university which does not cover contraception in its student health care plan. Democrats had asked that Fluke testify at a House Oversight Committee hearing last week but the committee chairman Rep. Darrell Issa said she was not an "appropriate" or "qualified" witness. The uproar Democrats caused over her exclusion, and the all-male panel that did testify, helped them promote their message that the GOP does not care about women.

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Birth Control

Birth Control Lawsuits Have Shaky Legal Merit

Sahil Kapur | February 22, 2012, 6:17AM

President Obama's religious accommodation in his rule requiring insurance plans to cover birth control has failed to placate elements of the Catholic community, and, with strong GOP support, they remain determined to sue. But do the lawsuits, the latest of which was filed Tuesday, have much legal merit? Possibly, but if judicial precedent is any indication, probably not.

The tweaked regulation says religious non-profits like universities and hospitals do not need to pay for free birth control coverage in their employee health plans, and can pass the cost on to the insurance company. (Churches and houses of worship are entirely exempt.) But like other entities, Ave Maria University, a Catholic institution, argues in a new legal challenge that affiliating itself with any access to contraception would violate its religious beliefs.

But barring a departure from precedent, the lawsuits aren't set to go very far.

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Jon Stewart

Jon Stewart Blasts Darrell Issa's 'Punanny State'

David Taintor | February 21, 2012, 9:26AM

Jon Stewart

Remember the all-male panel convened last week on the Obama administration's birth control rule? Or, as Jon Stewart called the uproar on Monday, the "punanny state."

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Contraception

'Where Are The Women?' Democrats Go On Offense Over Contraception

Pema Levy | February 17, 2012, 5:58AM

Democrats have a new rallying cry when it comes to the Obama administration's hotly contested contraception rule. Thursday, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) gazed at an all male panel at yesterday's House Oversight hearing and asked, "Where are the women?" The question is being repeated by Democrats and women's rights groups as they attempt to shape the narrative of the contraception issue.

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Birth Control

Snowe & Collins Seem To Be Hedging On Birth Control

Sahil Kapur | February 15, 2012, 1:26PM

Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME)

After indicating that they were placated by President Obama's tweaked birth control regulation, Maine Republican Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins appear to be hedging on it, speaking late Tuesday to Jonathan Riskind of the home-state Portland Press Herald.

They appeared to dance around the issue, not taking a stance but saying they aren't fully with Obama.

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Stephen Colbert

Colbert Performs Dramatic Reenactment Of Obama's 'War On Religion'

David Taintor | February 15, 2012, 11:10AM

Stephen Colbert

Stephen Colbert, devout Catholic, despises President Obama's "war on religion." The administration's rule that health insurance companies provide contraception coverage is basically "forcing priests to hand out condoms at mass," Colbert said Tuesday.

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Contraception

Poll: Americans Overwhelmingly Favor Contraception Coverage Mandate -- Including Catholics

Eric Kleefeld | February 15, 2012, 11:08AM

Calek/ Shutterstock

The new CBS/New York Times poll shows that the White House's fight over contraception in health insurance plans is in fact on the winning side with the public -- and among Catholics, too, the group whose church leadership has mounted the mount vigorous campaign against it.

The poll of American adults asked: "Do you support or oppose a recent federal requirement that private health insurance plans cover the full cost of birth control for their female patients?" The answer was: Support 66%, Oppose 26%.

A follow-up question then specifically brought the religious element into the equation: "And what about for religiously affiliated employers, such as a hospital or university -- do you support or oppose a recent federal requirement that their health insurance plans cover the full cost of birth control for their female employees?"

The answer was still a very sizable majority: Support 61%, Oppose 31%. And on that followup question, Catholics were essentially identical to the top-line at 61%-32%. Women also supported it by 66%-28%, and men by 55%-38%.

Contraception

Blunt: Contraception Mandate Not 'Only Litmus Test' For Presidential Candidate

Brian Beutler | February 14, 2012, 4:23PM

Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO)

You'd think the GOP's ongoing, dogged push to allow any employer to deny female employees contraceptive coverage is an indication that Republicans take a strong stance on the issue.

But it's not. On Tuesday afternoon, I asked Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) whether he could support a Republican presidential candidate who had required religious institutions to provide female employees with contraceptive coverage.

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Jon Stewart

Jon Stewart Mocks GOP Opposition To Birth Control Rule

David Taintor | February 14, 2012, 9:08AM

Jon Stewart

Jon Stewart on Monday caught himself up on the growing controversy over the Obama administration's rule that employers provide birth control coverage in their health care plans.

President Obama last week announced a compromise that would require insurance companies to pay for coverage if employers oppose contraception on "moral" grounds.

Great, Stewart said. "So I guess we're done here. Compromise made, everybody happy."

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Contraception

Obama Shatters GOP's United Front On Birth Control

Sahil Kapur | February 14, 2012, 5:35AM

Schisms are emerging within the Republican Party after President Obama's announcement last Friday that he would tweak his contraception mandate to ensure that religious nonprofits aren't forced to pay for an employee's birth control coverage. And as GOP leaders push to repeal the requirement entirely, the White House is welcoming that battle.

The shift is looking like an act of political jujitsu as Obama has not only unified his base but splintered the GOP coalition, which initially appeared united against the President's rule. Obama won over the Democrats and moderate Catholics who criticized him, while maintaining the support of those who backed the original rule. As an added bonus, he has turned some Republicans who initially opposed his policy against their own leaders.

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Contraception

McConnell: GOP Will Fight To Let ANY Employer Deny Birth Control Coverage

Sahil Kapur | February 12, 2012, 11:47AM

Not satisfied with President Obama's new religious accommodation, Republicans will move forward with legislation by Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) that permits any employer to deny birth control coverage in their health insurance plans, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said Sunday.

"If we end up having to try to overcome the President's opposition by legislation, of course I'd be happy to support it, and intend to support it," McConnell said. "We'll be voting on that in the Senate and you can anticipate that that would happen as soon as possible."

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Contraception

Women's Groups Broadly Support Birth Control Compromise

Pema Levy | February 10, 2012, 2:22PM

On Friday, the Obama administration announced a rule change to accommodate religious organizations on the issue of contraception coverage under the Affordable Care Act. So far, pro-choice groups who hoped the administration would not to cave on the issue have seemed broadly satisfied with the changes, having been assured by the President that "all women will still have access to free preventive care that includes contraceptive services."

The new rule shifts the onus of coverage from employers to insurers. "The insurance company will be required to reach out directly and offer her contraceptive coverage free of charge," an administration official told reporters on a conference call.

Women's groups are taking the administration at its word that the change will not cost women coverage. "In the face of a misleading and outrageous assault on women's health, the Obama administration has reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring all women will have access to birth control coverage, with no costly co-pays, no additional hurdles, and no matter where they work," read Planned Parenthood's statement. "We believe the compliance mechanism does not compromise a woman's ability to access these critical birth control benefits."

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