© Reuters/Larry Downing
But Catholic Church leaders and Obama's Republican opponents, who had railed against the Democratic president's new rule on contraceptives as a violation of religious freedom, signaled that divisions remain over the hot-button social issue.
The compromise by the Obama administration sought to accommodate religious organizations, such as Catholic hospitals and universities, outraged by a new rule that would have required them to offer free contraceptive coverage to women employees.
Instead, the new approach puts the burden on insurance companies, ordering them to provide workers at religious-affiliated institutions with free family planning if they request it, without involving their employer at all, the White House said.
"Religious liberty will be protected, and a law that requires free preventive care will not discriminate against women," Obama told reporters in the White House briefing room as he sought to put the political furor to rest.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops called Obama's move a "first step in the right direction" but said it was still concerned about the issue and would reserve judgment.
Weighing in publicly on the issue for the first time, Obama acknowledged that religious groups had "genuine concerns" about the birth control rule, but he accused some of his opponents of a cynical effort to turn the issue into a "political football."
"The result will be that religious organizations won't have to pay for these services," Obama said. "But women who work at these institutions will have access to free contraceptives just like other women."
The rule had sparked an outcry not only from Catholic leaders but from social conservatives, including Republican presidential hopefuls on the campaign trail, and had also sown dissent among some of Obama's top advisers.
Health insurance giant Aetna Inc said it would comply with the policy but needed "to study the mechanics of this unprecedented decision before we can understand how it will be implemented and how it will impact our customers."
Republicans seized on the issue, seeing a chance to paint Obama as anti-religion and put him on the defensive as signs of economic recovery appear to have re-energized his re-election bid.
The policy shift was aimed at preventing the issue from becoming a liability for Obama with Catholic voters, while at the same time trying not to anger his liberal base.
The insurance company will be forced to pay. Of course the insurance company gets the money to pay from the insured and the insured's employer, the insured being the employee of the Church people, and the Church people being the insured's employer!
Talk about double-speak - how much Orwellian can it get? Have they dumbed down most people to this level? If so, let me break it down for you.
Obama orders free birth control for all on insurance. He does not offer any money to pay for this "free" birth control, only the regulation to require it be provided. To cool down the Roman Catholic Church, a major health care provider / employer in the United States, he allows them one year exemption, getting him past the election. They don't buy it, so now he says, wait, the insurance company will pay, not the Church employers / employees. The insurance company charges the employer and employee a set amount for premiums each year, computed to cover the cost of the medical care plus a profit, and normally a co-pay for actual usage to bring some of the cost directly to the user, such as medications, office visits etc that are covered. Obama's dictat means the insurance company cannot charge a co-pay for birth control in all it's forms. The insurance company is a business, not the Federal Reserve business, so they cannot print money. They get the money from the employer and the employee. All these means is the employer and the employee will be paying for birth control in the premiums - all employers and all employees if they are insured. If you are a 60 year old man who hasn't had sex in twenty years, too bad, you are going to pay for birth control. If you are a nun, you are going to pay for birth control. If you are a homosexual, man or woman, you are going to pay for birth control. Starting to get it? If the receptionist decides to have a little "risky sex" after a few drinks on Friday, the nun will be paying her share for the abortion down the road. Anything else you hear is purely misdirection.
In case you don't get it, it is called socialism, where the costs are spread to the general population.
Socialism doesn't raise up poor people, it drags everybody except the elite down to the same minimum level, while destroying any incentive to lead a moral productive life.