In an abrupt shift following a political firestorm, President Barack Obama announced Friday that religious employers will not be mandated to offer free contraceptive coverage for workers.
The
president will require that insurance companies, rather than
religious-affiliated institutions, take the lead in enrolling employees
for the birth control benefit and covering the cost. Catholic advocates had argued that placing the requirement on employers would abridge free speech rights.
“After the many genuine concerns that have been raised
over the last few weeks, as well as the frankly more cynical desire by
some to make this into a political football, it became clear that
spending months hammering out a solution was not going to be an option,”
Obama said in the White House briefing room, with Health and Human
Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius standing by his side.
