No retreat, no surrender (on contraception)

So, let's see if I have this straight:

1. Consider a company owned by the Catholic Church. It might be a college, or a hospital, or whatever. It employs folks from a variety of backgrounds and faiths.

2. The current mandate for minimal insurance plans from insurers, per the federal government, includes contraceptives. Note that this mandate is not justified as "puts a thumb in the eyes of those Catholic bishops," but as a service that a lot of folks want and that saves medical providers a big chunk of change.

3. Our company (see #1) purchases insurance coverage for its employees. The company pays part of the coverage, the employees pay another part.

4. Under the rules currently put forward, if a religious institution objects to something mandated to be covered, it does not have to pay the insurance company for same. Rather, instead, subscribers to that insurance coverage would be contacted by the company directly and receive that service free of charge — in this case, contraceptives.

And, based on that compromise proposal, the Denver Catholic archdiocese (and, it seems, the US Council of Bishops) argues that the policy "continues to involve needless government intrusion in the internal governance of religious institutions, and to threaten government coercion of religious people and groups to violate their most deeply held conviction"?

Because that makes it sound like the bishops just plain old don't want their employees — Catholic or not — to have affordable birth control. #ddtb

Embedded Link

Denver Catholics reject Obama contraception compromise – The Denver Post
 Denver Catholic Charities said today it is united with Archdiocese of Denver Bishop James Conley and the U.