Obama Didn't Cave on Birth Control
ProudProgressive
2012/02/12 13:31:31
This has been an interesting week. It started with the President announcing regulations designed to protect the right of every American to choose for themselves whether or not to use birth control. The Right Wing instantly jumped on this to manufacture yet another phony "crisis" in their desperate attempt to distract the American people from the continued and growing success of President Obama's economic policies. While defending the "right" of the Catholic Church to deny its employees their First Amendment right to the "free exercise of religion", the Right revved up their latest phony meme, the so-called "War on Religion."
President Obama put these extremists in their place in about ten minutes, protecting the rights of Americans while simultaneously depriving the extremists of any leverage they might use to suppress those rights. The Right Wing's reaction was predictable - "Obama Caved", "Obama Lost". Reality says otherwise.
Perhaps the biggest contradiction in this latest pathetic Right Wing attack is that they have repeatedly accused the President of not listening to the American people. Common sense would say that when a leader proposes something and the people it affects express concerns, we would WANT him to try to reach an accommodation that will accomplish the goal of the proposal while respecting the rights of those who object. President Obama accomplished this almost effortlessly, yet now the very receptiveness to public opinion that the Right has accused the President of lacking has become the latest silly tool in a desperate and failing attack.
Article excerpt follows:
Obama Didn't Cave on Birth Control
—By Nick Baumann
Fri Feb. 10, 2012
So did Barack Obama fold?
On Friday, after taking heavy criticism from Catholic groups and the political right over a regulation that would have required religiously-affiliated hospitals and universities (not churches) to offer their employees health insurance that covers birth control (with no copays), President Barack Obama went on live television to announce a shift. Now, insurance companies will have to offer employees of religious organizations the birth control coverage directly, without charging extra for it. (The details of the new birth control coverage plan are here.)
Some media outlets will no doubt call this a surrender by the president. But it's not. Here's why:
Everyone who was going to get birth control coverage before will still have access to it. Employees of Catholic schools and hospitals aren't always Catholic, and most sexually active women who aren't trying to get pregnant use birth control. The new rule will not allow the religious views of the leadership of religiously-affiliated organizations to dictate whether birth control is provided to their employees. The intent of the first version of the rule was to make birth control easier to get. The new rule will achieve that goal. "No woman's health should depend on who she is, where she works, or how much money she makes," Obama said in his statement. This policy ensures that.
The coverage will still feature no copayments. The insurance companies that are being required to offer birth control coverage directly to the employees of religious organizations will have to offer it for free. There will be no difference in cost between the plan that covers birth control and the plan that doesn't. The Obama administration justifies this by noting that studies suggest that covering birth control is cost-neutral or even saves money for health insurers because it's cheaper than pregnancy; it spaces out pregnancies, leading to healthier kids, and has other beneficial health effects.
The policy change still won't satisfy the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, which opposed the birth control provision from the start. It's not a cave if your opponents aren't getting what they actually want. What the bishops desire is for the entire birth control rule to be repealed. They believe that no employer—religious affiliation or not—should be required to offer birth control coverage. UPDATE, Friday 3:45 EST: The bishops have released a statement on the policy change that says they're "studying" it and it's a "first step in the right direction." It's unclear whether they'll ultimately retreat from their original position or simply say this attempt is a good step but not sufficient.
The most important reproductive rights groups—Planned Parenthood, NARAL Pro-Choice America, the American Civil Liberties Union, and so on—all support the policy shift. You can bet that these politically savvy groups would be hollering to high heaven if they thought that women had been betrayed.
This whole scuffle was an intriguing policy dilemma, pitting women's health advocates versus faith leaders waving the banner of religious freedom. But with this move, Obama has demonstrated that it's possible to sidestep the red-hot politics of the dispute and work out a reasonable policy outcome that's backed by reproductive rights groups and the Catholic Health Association. It's not likely, though, that the social conservatives who have bashed Obama as an implacable foe of religious freedom will give it a rest.
President Obama put these extremists in their place in about ten minutes, protecting the rights of Americans while simultaneously depriving the extremists of any leverage they might use to suppress those rights. The Right Wing's reaction was predictable - "Obama Caved", "Obama Lost". Reality says otherwise.
Perhaps the biggest contradiction in this latest pathetic Right Wing attack is that they have repeatedly accused the President of not listening to the American people. Common sense would say that when a leader proposes something and the people it affects express concerns, we would WANT him to try to reach an accommodation that will accomplish the goal of the proposal while respecting the rights of those who object. President Obama accomplished this almost effortlessly, yet now the very receptiveness to public opinion that the Right has accused the President of lacking has become the latest silly tool in a desperate and failing attack.
Article excerpt follows:
Obama Didn't Cave on Birth Control
—By Nick Baumann
Fri Feb. 10, 2012
So did Barack Obama fold?
On Friday, after taking heavy criticism from Catholic groups and the political right over a regulation that would have required religiously-affiliated hospitals and universities (not churches) to offer their employees health insurance that covers birth control (with no copays), President Barack Obama went on live television to announce a shift. Now, insurance companies will have to offer employees of religious organizations the birth control coverage directly, without charging extra for it. (The details of the new birth control coverage plan are here.)
Some media outlets will no doubt call this a surrender by the president. But it's not. Here's why:
Everyone who was going to get birth control coverage before will still have access to it. Employees of Catholic schools and hospitals aren't always Catholic, and most sexually active women who aren't trying to get pregnant use birth control. The new rule will not allow the religious views of the leadership of religiously-affiliated organizations to dictate whether birth control is provided to their employees. The intent of the first version of the rule was to make birth control easier to get. The new rule will achieve that goal. "No woman's health should depend on who she is, where she works, or how much money she makes," Obama said in his statement. This policy ensures that.
The coverage will still feature no copayments. The insurance companies that are being required to offer birth control coverage directly to the employees of religious organizations will have to offer it for free. There will be no difference in cost between the plan that covers birth control and the plan that doesn't. The Obama administration justifies this by noting that studies suggest that covering birth control is cost-neutral or even saves money for health insurers because it's cheaper than pregnancy; it spaces out pregnancies, leading to healthier kids, and has other beneficial health effects.
The policy change still won't satisfy the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, which opposed the birth control provision from the start. It's not a cave if your opponents aren't getting what they actually want. What the bishops desire is for the entire birth control rule to be repealed. They believe that no employer—religious affiliation or not—should be required to offer birth control coverage. UPDATE, Friday 3:45 EST: The bishops have released a statement on the policy change that says they're "studying" it and it's a "first step in the right direction." It's unclear whether they'll ultimately retreat from their original position or simply say this attempt is a good step but not sufficient.
The most important reproductive rights groups—Planned Parenthood, NARAL Pro-Choice America, the American Civil Liberties Union, and so on—all support the policy shift. You can bet that these politically savvy groups would be hollering to high heaven if they thought that women had been betrayed.
This whole scuffle was an intriguing policy dilemma, pitting women's health advocates versus faith leaders waving the banner of religious freedom. But with this move, Obama has demonstrated that it's possible to sidestep the red-hot politics of the dispute and work out a reasonable policy outcome that's backed by reproductive rights groups and the Catholic Health Association. It's not likely, though, that the social conservatives who have bashed Obama as an implacable foe of religious freedom will give it a rest.
Read More: http://motherjones.com/mojo/2012/02/obama-birth-co...
Top Opinion
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Andrew 2012/02/12 13:48:50
+9Of course the President did not compromise on the contraceptive issue. Contraception was not the issue in the first place. This was an assault on Constitutional Liberty. He simply transferred his Constitutional attack from religious institutions to private enterprise as they are easier to demonize and he could gain more sypathy from the sheep by attacking them. But, an attack on any Americans Constitutional Rights is an attack on us ALL and we will organize and teach this dictator a lesson he won't forget in November!
This , like the Eugenic beliefs of the NAZI, will hard to root out. America defeated the NAZI then imported tje Eugenic ways into the Heasrts of all the Racist Democrats of the 1950s, in th e '60s they created Family Planning with Margret Sanger and by Jimmy Carter time tried to bring down the American People. thefirst time. .......Fill in the rest your self
If you can't afford it, you could always disconnect your internet, after all the internet is not a necessity.
He is against the Constitution of the USA and has been from day one. This is what happens when a man hangs around with ex- terrorists and element who hate this country.
MORE OBAMA TITTY FOR ALL THE LEACHES WHO THINK THAT THE GOVERNMENT OWES THEM A LIVING.
If you can't afford it, you could always disconnect your internet, after all the internet is not a necessity.
By the way I am a libertarian and you know nothing about power to the people, you only know what the government wants to give you.
Note: While this post mocks the homosexual priests, it goes no further into the pandemic of homosexual pedophilia. Homosexuals molest/rape at a rate of 12 to 1 (Cameron, et. al.)
So we need a President to pass a law so that people are allowed to make their own decisions? Has America been dumbed down to the point they can't think for themselves anymore? Or is this just another attack on people's religious freedoms?
Simply put if your stupid enough to get involved with a cult religion that doesn't practice birth control then perhaps you do need a President to do your thinking for you.
1) Rape: Republicans are actually trying to redefine rape to exclude drugging a women and raping her, or getting her drunk and raping her. After a major backlash, they promised to stop. But they haven't the language is still out there.
2) More Rape. A state legislator in Georgia wants to change the legal term for victims of rape, stalking, and domestic violence to "accuser." But victims of other crimes, like robbery, would remain "victims." Apparently in Georgia if a women is raped, she isn’t really – is just an annoying accuser. Which means the rapist is not really a criminal.
3) Murder. In South Dakota, Republicans proposed a bill that could make it legal to murder anyone who injures or threatens a fetus, including a doctor who provides abortion care and the mother. He denies it has anything to do with abortion so I guess it is aimed at makingit OK for a husband or boyfriend to kill his partner if he thinks she might injure the fetus- like in a car accident, or he just doesn’t like her anymore.
5) Death. In Congress, Republicans have proposed a bill that would let hospitals allow a woman to die rather than perform an abortion necessary to save her life (so she and fetus die.)
6) Ignorance and slavery. Maryland Republicans ended all county money for a low-income kids' preschool program. Why? No need, they said. Women should really be home with the kids, not out working. They should be slaves to their husbands instead.
7) More ignorance. At the federal level, Republicans want to cut that same program, Head Start, by $1 billion. That means over 200,000 kids could lose their spots in preschool.
8) Poverty and starvation. Two-thirds of the elderly poor are women, and Republicans are taking aim at them too. A spending bill would cut funding for employment services, meals, and housing for senior citizens.
9) Sickness. Congress voted yesterday on a Republican amendment to cut all federal funding from Planned Parenthood health centers, one of the most trusted providers of basic health care and family planning in our country.
10) Barefoot and pre...
5) Death. In Congress, Republicans have proposed a bill that would let hospitals allow a woman to die rather than perform an abortion necessary to save her life (so she and fetus die.)
6) Ignorance and slavery. Maryland Republicans ended all county money for a low-income kids' preschool program. Why? No need, they said. Women should really be home with the kids, not out working. They should be slaves to their husbands instead.
7) More ignorance. At the federal level, Republicans want to cut that same program, Head Start, by $1 billion. That means over 200,000 kids could lose their spots in preschool.
8) Poverty and starvation. Two-thirds of the elderly poor are women, and Republicans are taking aim at them too. A spending bill would cut funding for employment services, meals, and housing for senior citizens.
9) Sickness. Congress voted yesterday on a Republican amendment to cut all federal funding from Planned Parenthood health centers, one of the most trusted providers of basic health care and family planning in our country.
10) Barefoot and pregnant. And if that wasn't enough, Republicans are pushing to eliminate all funds for the only federal family planning program. (for humans only - Republican Dan Burton, who supports eliminating funds for family planning has introduced a bill to provide contraception for wild horses. Horses have more value to him than America’s women?).