'Your papers, please' must never be heard in America
Facing a wave of lawsuits over what government can tell religious groups to do, the Obama administration on Friday proposed a compromise for faith-based nonprofits that object to covering birth control in their employee health plans.
The story of President Obama's first term is one of a president who has sought to transform how the government interacts with the governed. Mr. Obama seems to view civil society, particularly the church, as an obstacle to the only essential relationship: that between individuals and the state.
President Obama's efforts last week have failed to quell the fury over his decision to require most health plans to cover contraception. Republicans are still promising a fight in Congress, and two leading Catholic groups remain on the fence although the administration thought they had been won over.
Conservatives said Sunday the flap surrounding President Obama's birth-control mandate was far from over, with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell saying he'll push to overturn the requirement because it was another example of government meddling.
Reacting to an election-year firestorm, the White House on Friday shifted course on its health care contraception mandate, announcing that religious employers will not have to cover free birth control for their employees and that the responsibility would instead fall to private insurers.
The Obama administration's decision requiring church-affiliated employers to cover birth control was bound to cause an uproar among Roman Catholics and members of other faiths, no matter their beliefs on contraception.
The Obama administration's decision requiring church-affiliated employers to cover birth control was bound to cause an uproar among Roman Catholics and members of other faiths, no matter their beliefs on contraception.
Amid much Christian angst over Obama administration regulations requiring health insurance cover- age for sterilization and contraceptives - including some that cause abortion - two prominent Catholic organizations, the University of Notre Dame and the Catholic Health Association, have proposed a compromise.
The head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on Monday defended church leaders' opposition to President Obama's health care plan, arguing the overhaul will allow backdoor taxpayer subsidy for abortion.
