Is pregnancy a disease? Should Catholics, purchasing insurance for themselves or their employees be forced against their consciences to subsidize its prevention?
These questions lie at the heart of new regulations just issued by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which will administer President Barack Obama’s new health care law.
Ethics of reproductive health care
The regulations include a list of “preventive services” that all group health plans must provide without any co-pay. The list includes female surgical sterilization, plus all FDA-approved contraceptives, including some (like the prescription drug ella) that can act as abortifacients.