In a cohesive pattern various Catholic groups sued the Federal government in 12 federal courts all over the country on Monday, May 21st, 2012, challenging the health-care-overhaul law's requirement that employers cover contraception in workers' health plans.
The "Catholic" lawsuits were brought by the University of Notre Dame, the Archdiocese of New York, Catholic University of America and, among 36 others, archdioceses serving Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Dallas.
The Catholic plaintiffs challenge a provision in the healthcare law that requires most employers )including religious institutions) to cover all preventative health services, including contraception as part of their insurance policies, without out-of-pocket costs for consumers. Sterilization is one of the methods of birth control included, as is the so-called "morning-after" pill. After heavy criticism, the Administration said last February (2012) it would modify the requirement to permit Catholic employers to avoid directly providing birth control in their policies. Instead, insurance companies would be required to provide contraception for participants who wanted it, without explicitly charging either the religious employer or worker. Federal officials are still working out how to implement its proposal.
But the Catholics have also expressed broader concerns, saying that even if a compromise is worked out for religiously affiliated institutions, it wouldn't address the objections of employers who are Catholic and run secular businesses.
The U.S. Health and Human Services Department adopted the rule to improve health care for women. In 2011, an advisory panel from the Institute of Medicine, which advises the Federal government, recommended including birth control on the list of covered services, in part because the rule promoted maternal and child health by allowing women to space their pregnancies.
[USA Today, May 21, 2012; WSJ, May 22, 2012]
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