Obama: 'Not fair' to deny contraception coverage at Catholic institutions

[Suudy]

Originally Posted by losh14

I see your point, but an exemption was previously given based on religious affiliation of the organization at the state and federal level. The requirement to cover contraception at the Federal level has been in place since 2000 or 2001 as an HHS mandate, mainly enforced through threat of litigation, but with significant exemptions - one of those being self-insured organizations. Under the rules that were in place prior to Sebelius' interpretation of the Affordable Care Act, a for-profit company did not have to cover contraception if it was self-insured. Sebelius' rule removes that exemption so that religious institutions that are not houses of worship no longer have this exemption.

Right. But it did force individuals or companies with moral or religious objections to provide such coverage. As I understand it, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act only protected religious institutions. And then it seems it was struck down in City of Boerne v. Flores for application to the states. That is, individual states can impose such contraception mandates.

Indeed, it seems that in Hawaii explicitly requires contraception coverage (source) and only allows exemptions just like the HHS mandate (source):

431:10A-116.7 Contraceptive services; religious employers exemption. (a) A "religious employer" is an entity for which each of the following is true:

1. The inculcation of religious values is the purpose of the entity;
2. The entity primarily employs persons who share the religious tenets of the entity;
3. The entity is not staffed by public employees; and
4. The entity is a nonprofit organization as defined under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.

Many states do offer exemptions. But others, such as Hawaii, are extremely limited. In Hawaii, estesbob would be required to provide contraceptive coverage.

Originally Posted by losh14

A note, this was fortunately defeated in April.

Sorta. It passed the House, but the companion bill in the Senate stalled in committee. If Inslee wins the election, I foresee a real possibility is could pass.

[Trader]

I would like to post two links on the subject that most of you will find interesting. The first is the speech of 23 year old Laura Wegmann, a 23 year old recent graduate of Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, Michigan. The speech was given at the June 30 religious freedom rally in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It was great to hear that some of our young people have better reasoning skills than the much older President of the United States.
http://www.redeemerradio.com/documen...omenSpeech.pdf

A few hours later that day Bishop Kevin C Rhoades received applause after his homily at a special Mass that was also part of our Fortnight for Freedom celebration.

The second link is on the power of Congress to tax by Paul Moreno, a history professor at Hillsdale College. Hillsdale is widely known for remaining an independent institution of higher education by refusing all government aid. The article appeared in the Wall Street Journal.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...320285454.html

[_Abyssinia]

Judge Dismisses Major Lawsuit Against Obama HHS Mandate

http://www.lifenews.com/2012/07/17/j...ma-hhs-mandate

I am paraphrasing, but he dismissed it because it has not been implemented fully until August 2013, and because states do not have the legal right to sue because they do not have first amendment protection. All the colleges, and some individuals with businesses that have got lawsuits have not gone to court yet

Court might not allow proper look at the implications to religious freedom of ObamaTax
until the whole law has been implemented which means employers, Catholic and non Catholic may have to wait months paying fines or abiding by the ObamaTax law which means cooperating in sin by providing it, before it goes to court. Nearly everyone thought the Supreme court would overturn the mandate, and John Roberts found a way to uphold the whole law. Can not rely on the court to overturn a law which is seen as unconstitutional. Only way to guarantee the overturning of the law is to elect Romney