To the editor: […]
Tag: respect for rights of conscience act
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A new federal mandate on health care coverage is posing a threat to the religious freedom of Church-affiliated employers, including Catholic hospitals, universities, and charitable institutions.
Health insurance plans are being required to provide reproductive services for women including contraceptives and sterilization procedures, as well as for drugs that may cause an abortion both before and after implantation.
Free birth control? Does not provide real health care or protect conscience rights
Several things have been bothering me since I heard about the recommendation that the government require coverage of contraceptives in all health plans in our country.
On July 19, the Institute of Medicine’s Committee on Preventive Services for Women made public a list of recommendations to the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This department has the responsibility to decide which health services will be mandated under the new national health reform law.
The 16-member panel said that all women of reproductive age should have access to “the full range of Food and Drug Administration-approved contraceptive methods, sterilization procedures, and patient education and counseling.” If approved by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, these practices would be mandated for all insurance plans — both public and private — without any co-pays.
In other words, birth control will be provided free of charge. This recommendation is ill-conceived (no pun intended) on so many fronts. It boggles the mind!