Obama's Free Contraception Mandate

King Barack is forcing his will on Catholic and other religious organizations.

Separation of church and state? What? Huh?

Health plans ordered to cover birth control without co-pays

Most healthcare plans will be required to cover birth control without charging co-pays or deductibles starting Aug. 1, the Obama administration announced Friday.

The final regulation retains the approach federal health officials proposed last summer, despite the deluge of complaints from religious groups and congressional Republicans that has poured in since then. Churches, synagogues and other houses of worship are exempt from the requirement, but religious-affiliated hospitals and universities only get a one-year delay and must comply by Aug. 1, 2013.

“This decision was made after very careful consideration, including the important concerns some have raised about religious liberty,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement. “I believe this proposal strikes the appropriate balance between respecting religious freedom and increasing access to important preventive services."

Congressional Republicans slammed the decision as an assault on religious freedom.

"This ruling forces religious organizations to violate the fundamental tenets of their faith, or stop offering health insurance coverage to their employees," said the Republican Policy Committee. "Time will tell whether those institutions choose the former or the latter course — but neither option should be necessary, if the administration had not taken such an unbending approach to appease its liberal base."

Private organizations should not be forced to violate their beliefs.

Sebelius' statement that the "proposal strikes the appropriate balance between respecting religious freedom and increasing access to important preventive services" is positively idiotic.

There's no balance at all. A one-year exemption is ridiculous. It doesn't address the moral issues involved.

From ABC News:

The Obama administration today said it would move forward with a new mandate requiring most U.S. employers – including religiously affiliated hospitals and schools – to provide health care plans that cover contraceptive services for female employees free of charge.

The guidelines, first proposed in August and set to take effect in August 2012, have been hailed by the abortion-rights community and many Obama re-election supporters.

But the Catholic Church and other religious groups, which consider some forms of contraception as the termination of life, had waged an intensive lobbying campaign for a clear exemption of affiliated institutions from the new rules.

The Department of Health and Human Services today said, despite their concerns, it will hold the line on the requirement, but extended the deadline for compliance until 2013.

“We will continue to work closely with religious groups during this transitional period to discuss their concerns,” Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement.

"Work closely with religious groups during this transitional period to discuss their concerns"?

Give me a break! Really? What a load!

What is Sebelius going to do that will actually address their concerns, such as not being forced to provide something that violates their basic faith tenets?

It's impossible. One year means nothing.

King Barack rules without checks and balances.

This is tyranny. Obama is a tyrant.