Panel Debates Religious Groups’ Birth Control Coverage
A Catholic lobbyist, a state legislator and other experts this week debated whether the federal law requiring employers to provide health insurance coverage for birth control violates the religious freedoms of faith-based institutions.
By Alex Morton
Capital News Service
RICHMOND – A Catholic lobbyist, a state legislator and other experts this week debated whether the federal law requiring employers to provide health insurance coverage for birth control violates the religious freedoms of faith-based institutions.
Jeffrey Caruso, executive director of the Virginia Catholic Conference, called the law an infringement on Catholic institutions’ religious freedoms. Forcing church-operated hospitals and schools to distribute free contraceptives to employees goes against church principles, Caruso said. “This issue is intrusive.”
But state Delegate Jennifer McClellan said employees of such institutions have the right to contraceptives under the health insurance act approved by Congress and President Barack Obama. Without insurance, more than half of women age 18 to 34 struggle to afford contraceptives, McClellan said. “If you can’t access it because of financial barriers, do you really have a right to it?”
The two sides squared off at a panel discussion hosted by the Religious Studies Department at Virginia Commonwealth University. The event, held in VCU’s Student Commons Theater, was called “Costly Coverage: Religious Freedom and Reproductive Rights in the Birth Control Debate.”
Caruso, whose office represents the Catholic dioceses of Richmond and Arlington on matters of public policy, said schools, hospitals and other institutions formed under a specific religion should be able to operate within their beliefs. Catholic institutions are being forced to violate their teachings by providing contraception, he said.
William Hurd, a partner at the Troutman Sanders law firm and adjunct professor at George Mason University School of Law, agreed. Just because women are legally entitled to contraceptives doesn’t mean contraceptives should be provided to women for free, he said.
“There is a big difference in saying that somebody has the right to do something, and saying that someone else must arrange to pay for it,” Hurd said.
But McClellan said birth control pills aren’t used only to prevent pregnancy. The Democratic lawmaker and attorney, who represents the 71st House District in Richmond, said she was prescribed the pill to help with ovarian cysts. If women do not have access to this medication, they are at risk for losing an ovary, McClellan said.
She also said that when a religious institution takes on a public function, it loses its religious purpose. Religious hospitals, for example, are performing public services and therefore should take public policy into consideration, McClellan said.
Karen Raschke, a retired attorney and Planned Parenthood lobbyist, agreed with McClellan. She asked rhetorically how the law might apply to an Islamic hospital treating non-Muslims during the month of Ramadan, when Muslims fast from sunup to sundown.
“If patients were treated in an Islamic hospital, would they be denied food during the daylight hours of Ramadan?” Raschke asked.
All of the panelists noted that there are diverse opinions about the health care law. The courts will make the final decision, Hurd and McClellan said.
Panelists on both sides said they were pleased by how Tuesday’s debate went.
“This issue is not just for men or just for women,” Caruso said afterward. “But the debate helped people on both sides of the issue become better informed.”
McClellan said, “There was obviously a lot of passion in the room. Having people here who really care about the issue helps everyone be better educated.”
Eugene Korzeniowski
6:54 am on Monday, March 26, 2012
If an individual wants birth control then let them pay for it not I or anyone else. Its not a right.
Anne
11:08 am on Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Cool, if that is how you feel. Now can we make you men pay for your own Viagra? After all, my health insurance, medicare and medicaid pay for that for men. Women take the pill for more than just birth control too. But I suppose its different for men Ehh? lol
khanoom bozorg
1:40 pm on Tuesday, March 27, 2012
YES YES YES!!! I totally agree!
Dustin
3:49 pm on Thursday, April 5, 2012
Actually men do take it for different reasons other than just ED. If health insurance provider wants to provide that as part as their coverage, more power for them. To have taxpayers pay for it isn't fair. To force a business to provide a service, no matter how noble, is unethical. If the demand for that service is high, another business will take the opportunity for new customers and the other business will fail. The lack of basic liberty principles and an understanding of the free-market in America is disturbing. Everyone wants everything and they want everyone else to pay for it. Look at Greece. They are bankrupt and people are STILL rioting for more entitlements.
rick barasso
8:54 am on Monday, March 26, 2012
Looks to me, it was men against women's health and women for women;s health.
I wonder which one would know better?
to EK
your statement:
If an individual wants birth control then let them pay for it not I or anyone else. Its not a right.
Last year Virginians had property damage from a hurricane, earthquake, flood, and fires. Then looked to the Federal government for aid to pay for it. I wonder how your annalogy works there? Others might ask, why should we pay for damages in Virginia? People have the right to live in Virginia, but why should we pay for damages to their property because they chose to live there?
Anne
11:59 am on Monday, March 26, 2012
As long as my health insurance pays for your VIAGRA, and it does then they can pay for my birth control pills. They are both supposidly for reproductive rights. The average perscription for viagra cost 118.00 per month. The average birth control package cost 68.00. So why are you complaining...Or is it moral that men get rid of ED at 75 years old and women do what they are told?
khanoom bozorg
9:35 am on Monday, March 26, 2012
So Rick is equating recreational sex to natural disaster relief? huh? People losing their home to a fire or hurricane actually makes people want to help. Not sure why you think that women are soliciting sympathy for their sexual causes.
I am a married woman and I don't want to pay for birth control for anyone. If you choose to use it, much like condoms, by all means go ahead. Why do tax payers need to foot the bill?
Lindsay
11:22 am on Monday, March 26, 2012
By your logic, I shouldn't have to pay taxes on any governmental action I disagree with. That just isn't how it works. Part of being an American citizen is paying taxes for things you might not agree with, just ask a pacifist how they feel about their tax dollars funding wars and conflicts.
Lindsay
10:54 am on Monday, March 26, 2012
Can't wait to read what all of these men have to say about what women should do with their bodies. I've got my popcorn at the ready!
Anne
8:48 am on Tuesday, March 27, 2012
And you know its coming or some ignorant woman who doesn't mind paying for VIAGRA but doesn't want to pay for the pill for women lol.
1Ronald
7:49 am on Thursday, April 5, 2012
Lindsay, you probably have one of the most if not the most intelligent and common sense comment on this issue. I remember Zero Population Growth's bumper stickers, Give the Earth a Brake, Stop Overpopulation, and Birth Control the Number 1 Pollution Solution that were made available from the contributions of a donor. That is until what we all know to be The Enemy of the People who stopped this by having donors threaten to withdraw donations unless the bumper stickers were destroyed. This came straight from the horse's mouth--ZPG Staff. So, ZPG developed the spine of a jelly fish. I don't know if ZPG is still around. You never hear of them anymore. Yes, Birth Control is EVERYBODY's business. More gridlock. More crime from the unwanted. More suffering as the quality of life declines miserably. But this is lost on deaf ears among those so brainwashed and indoctrinated that it becomes a waste of breath and print to even discuss it. Our taxes promote the common good--that which benefits each and everyone. I once had a professor in Public Policy at GWU (Prof Catron U/Berkeley) who said he enjoyed paying his taxes, that he felt he got a bargain for his money. Certainly if we must continue to support tax-exempt religion and permit them to create monolithic empires on the backs of the working class, we should have no problem paying for birth control.
Anne
12:02 pm on Monday, March 26, 2012
I would not mind the Catholic Church becoming involved in birth control issues if they were running a smooth, clean MORAL institution. Fact is that daily you hear about Priest molesting children. When they CLEAN their house and its without sin, then let them preach to me a woman about birth control. Do the priest rape little boys and little girls so there will be no worry of reproducing?
khanoom bozorg
6:32 pm on Monday, March 26, 2012
So I guess the only people who are allowed to leave an opinion here on this issue A. have a uterus, B. Think big government is a cure to all, and C. think birth control is a right. That is poppycock.
Anne
8:46 am on Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Who said that Khanoom? What we say is that women have to have some say in birth control since we are the ones who get pregnant. Second, the Catholic Church which is the most immoral of all instutitions other than government legislatures should have NO SAY until they clean their own house up. The priests are perverts and sick O's that rape children. You can't get any more immoral. And the Pope doesn't do squat to stop them...
Lindsay
11:46 am on Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Pretty much anyone is allowed to comment with their opinion here (as long as they have internet access and aren't grossly offensive), which is why you can post and others can, too, but freedom of speech includes the freedom to respond to others' opinions, not just the freedom to state your own.
khanoom bozorg
9:48 am on Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Anne, I understand your frustration with the church. I am not Catholic and I am appalled too. However, forcing them to pay for abortion pills makes no sense in a country with freedom of religion. If they "clean house" as you say, who would make that determination? I just don't see why this is an issue. It's legal, available for next to nothing at PP, why must it be paid for by all employers? It is a slippery slope scenario.
Anne
9:59 am on Tuesday, March 27, 2012
As long as the Catholic Church pays for Viagra for Priests and they are supposed to be sexually inactive, then they can pay for birth control pills. You have to weigh all the issues and you know what, mothers should not die in child birth so that a baby can live I don't care what the church says. The women in the catholic church should have the same rights as men. The Pope isn't God although he gets treated like he is one.
khanoom bozorg
9:51 am on Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Viagra treats a medical condition. BCP treat the condition of being a normal, fertile woman in many cases. Ever heard that phrase "you can't fix normal"? lol Well, its not quite the same thing but I still look at this issue as recreational.
Anne
9:56 am on Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Maybe GOD is telling these men its time to stop the sexual activity. How many young men use the stuff? You sure like to make excuses for them. And The Priests , many are in fact child molesters. The Church is full of them and they are ALL OVER the World...
khanoom bozorg
9:53 am on Tuesday, March 27, 2012
One more thing, there are a lot of big hearted, well meaning Catholics who live good lives. Try not to lump their sincerely held beliefs in with your assumptions that the the whole church hierarchy is made up of perverts. That is just wrong.
Anne
9:57 am on Tuesday, March 27, 2012
So you are saying that there are no perverts molesting little kids in the Church? That its not an issue? I say you are assuming now.
khanoom bozorg
1:45 pm on Tuesday, March 27, 2012
No, I said that there are many good Catholics with strong moral convictions. I don't believe I minced words. Again, I am not Catholic but I respect the ideas and virtues. I think the church members most usually are decent people. Yes, there were some people committing hideous crimes and hiding with the help of the Vatican. That has NOTHING to do with this debate, nothing at all.
Anne
2:50 pm on Tuesday, March 27, 2012
I disagree. First, who said anything about members of the church? I said the PRIESTS are perverts who molest children. Second, they stay out of my house as long as they can't manage their own. It has EVERYTHING to do with this. Again, PRIEST not members of the CHURCH. You assume a lot... click...
Harold O. Koenig
3:46 pm on Friday, March 30, 2012
Viagra is to restore a natural function. Artificial contraception is to break a natural function. The Catholic Church doesnot object to the use of hormonalpills for purposes other than contraception.
We pay for insurance from natural disasters as part of our taxes. And again, fixing what is broken is not the same as breaking what works.
***
By your logic, I shouldn't have to pay taxes on any governmental action I disagree with. That just isn't how it works
***
It is common sense that we have to pay taxes. It is common sense that a representative government will do things of which we disapprove.
It is NOT common sense that a person should be obliged to enter into a contract with a private entity to buy something he thinks wrong. The distinction is important.
***
Fact is that daily you hear about Priest molesting children
***
No such abuse can be excused. But the FACT is that priests as a class have a lower rate ofsexual abuse ofchildren than the population in general and a far lower rate that public school teachers. Let's keep our facts straight.
Anne
6:53 am on Saturday, March 31, 2012
If it wre functioning naturally then you would not need viagra. At some point the penis stops working just as a woman will stop having cycles etc. Your logic is twisted. And women were not meant to be pregnant for their entire reproductive life. And in this day and age if each woman produced 20 children then there would be no room on earth for all the people. Remember not as many woman and children die in child birth much to your dismay I am certain. Women need birth control and if you don't like it fine but I stand by what I said. When I don't pay for your Viagra, then you don't pay for my pills. Period.... You men are so greedy and hateful. But then walk away from the mother of your children and discard the kids like they never counted. If you don't believe me, just look around this area. But you call the women immoral when the BIBLE states THOU not she will not commit adultery. I see it daily as a nurse... Shame on you
Priests are also a much smaller percentage of the population. And they are baby rapers. Even one is one to many. NO EXCUSES. Clean your house before you clean mine. OK
I have never said don't pay taxes, I pay mine happily. I am part of my community
WleighkSt
10:26 am on Saturday, March 31, 2012
If women can't afford birth control and the govt/insurance doesn't supply it, then they may not be able to afford to have the children from the unwanted pregnancy. BUT... The govt WILL pay for the children with your tax dollars. So pay now or pay later... What are we really debating?! Good Catholic women who believe in the position of the church wont use contraceptives.
khanoom bozorg
9:37 pm on Wednesday, April 4, 2012
WOW, I feel like that is an assumption that ALL woman behave poorly!!!!
khanoom bozorg
9:38 pm on Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Man bashing hurts the argument.
Anne
8:38 am on Thursday, April 5, 2012
I am not man bashing. I love men. I love my man so much it makes me hurt when we are apart for anytime at all. So don't go there. That does not make Priest who hurt children okay not does it bash men. Only bad guys so take that as you may. And women don't behave poorly. Another assumption and that makes me sad. I am stating and will say it again, when I don't pay for a man's viagra then I won't want insurance to pay for my pills which by the way are cheaper. And I know that insurance , medicaid and medicare pay for Viagra which insults me since I also feel that God made man to slow down that funtion just like he made women to go through the change of life. Fact! But men always make excuses and some right wing women. If you don't want birth control then by all means don't use it but the earth is over populated and children starve to death everyday. And abortion is legal in the US.
Dustin
4:01 pm on Thursday, April 5, 2012
I agree with Anne that she shouldn't be paying for Viagra. But Anne, if I told you that I didn't want my tax dollar to fund Planned Parenthood, would you be ok with that (asking out of philosophy, not spite)? I am pro-life myself and I don't want Anne's tax dollar to fund a pro-life based non-profit if she doesn't believe in it. That is fundamentally issue with our income tax funding non-profits, it creates an entanglement of interests. Give the money back to the people and let the fund the organizations they want. I think it's a slap in the face to humanity when congress in D.C. think they can provide a social safety net better than local private charities. A dollar spent by private contributions is more efficient and goes farther than a dollar spent by taxes.
Lindsay
4:20 pm on Thursday, April 5, 2012
@ Dustin: It's easy for someone who can afford to pay for privatized health care to make your kind of argument, since "giving the money back to the people" in essence means giving the money back to people who CAN afford to pay for their own healthcare, and they, as we have seen, seem totally unconcerned about the health and well being of those who are less privileged than they are. PP offers life saving medical care to women who are unable to afford expensive insurance premiums or who are uninsured. Cutting governmental funding would keep hundreds of thousands of poor women from receiving the necessary preventative health care they need to live.
Dustin
12:11 pm on Friday, April 6, 2012
@Lindsay Do you even know me? "It's easy for someone who can afford to pay for privatized health care to make your kind of argument, since "giving the money back to the people" in essence means giving the money back to people who CAN afford to pay for their own healthcare, and they seem totally unconcerned about the health and well being of those who are less privileged than they are." I see you have stereotyped me off assumptions you get when I said I was pro-life. That is an ugly form of a collectivist mind frame. What makes you think I can afford health insurance? I'm sorry you believe that the suits in D.C. who can't balance a budget are more equipped to help the poor than the local governments. What did those women who receive help from PP do before it was Federally funded? Oh yeah, private/local charities. To assume I don't care is very offensive and a slap in the face to the charitable efforts I've contributed and still contribute to over my lifespan. It may surprise you to find out I can't afford private health insurance, was nominated and earned the outstanding community service award at my Alma Mater, volunteered at the Northern Shenandoah Boys and Girls club and donate what I can to charities I support. I can't imagine living life believing, as you appear to do, that people genuinely don't care about those who are in need through no fault of their own. It's a slap in the face of humanity to believe that government take's care of us better than each other.
Lindsay
2:52 pm on Friday, April 6, 2012
@Dustin: I'm sorry I offended you but what I said was not meant to be an attack on your character, I meant it to be more a rhetorical device, and in fact I agree with you to a certain extent. Though I have to say that, since you are pro-life, I am disinclined to believe you really have the best interests of people with uteri at heart.
Dustin
3:53 pm on Thursday, April 5, 2012
If a catholic insurer doesn't want to provide birth control due to their beliefs so be it. They shouldn't be coerced into providing it even if 99% of Catholics agree. A Constitutional Republic is designed to protect us from the tyranny of the majority. If that Catholic insurer goes out of business for not providing a service the market demands, so be it too. It amazes me how congress continues to force groups of ideologies to fund and do things regardless of their believes.
Lindsay
4:28 pm on Thursday, April 5, 2012
I can't stop laughing at all of the Viagra arguments. The absurdity of trying to compare reproductive responsibility to erectile dysfunction does not deserve a response. Also, it is so hard to accept that people in the contemporary age have sex for reasons other than reproduction? And that it's okay for two consenting adults to do so? I just don't understand why this is so contentious.
khanoom bozorg
9:26 pm on Thursday, April 5, 2012
It is a stupid argument about Viagra.
People are entitled to have sex, of course! They are responsible for their actions though. There are all kinds of cheap birth control methods. I can't stand the arguments stating that kids will be born and unwanted. We all know how to prevent that. There is no way that I am buying people can't afford pills. PP practically gives them away. I really think that is the responsibility of the sexually active parties to deal with. This is truly a liberty grab!
Lindsay
11:08 am on Friday, April 6, 2012
@khanoom bozorg: Actually, for many women, even the reduced price hormonal birth control that PP provides is still too expensive. Why do you refuse to believe that there are people who can't afford even an extra 15 or 20 dollars a month? Really, I am curious.