White House to Announce ‘Accommodation’ on Contraception Rule
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Comstock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — With the White House under fire for its new rule requiring employers, including religious organizations, to offer health insurance that fully covers birth control coverage, President Obama will announce an attempt to accommodate these religious groups at 12:15 p.m. Friday.
The move, based on state models, will almost certainly not satisfy bishops and other religious leaders.
Sources say the addendum will be respectful of religious beliefs, but will not back off from it’s original goal, which many religious leaders oppose since birth control is in violation of their religious beliefs.
White House officials have discussed the state law in Hawaii, where religious groups are allowed to opt out of coverage that includes birth control, as long as employees are given information whether such coverage can be obtained. Still, this accommodation would not go that far.
Sources say it will involve health insurance companies providing coverage if necessary, since it’s actually cheaper for these companies to offer coverage than to not do so, because of unwanted pregnancies and resulting complications.
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