Friday News Dump: Feds Unveil New Birth Control Mandate

The problem with ObamaCare isn’t just that it’s the so called law of the land, said law seems to keep changing in reaction to events and court rulings until not even “we have to pass it to see what’s in it” holds up to the slightest scrutiny.

As usual with a Friday news dump, the devil is in the details down below.

The Obama administration is moving forward with regulations meant to enable certain businesses and charities to steer clear of the Affordable Care Act’s so-called birth control mandate, while ensuring free contraception coverage for women under the law. 

 The action amounts to an administrative workaround in response to a slew of legal challenges from groups citing religious objections to portions of the mandate. In June, the Supreme Court ruled that closely held religious companies cannot be compelled to offer their employees certain forms of birth control.

In short, the government will “step in” and cover “the law’s contraception requirements” as yet another taxpayer funded mandate. Also, as opponents charge, it doesn’t actually get religious companies out of the birth control business, as they’re still the vehicles for the coverage access.

If anything, this ‘fix’ only makes the so called law worse for everyone who pays taxes.

Under the proposal, the government would step in and cover the law’s contraception requirements in instances where employers announce their religious objections in writing. The organizations would not have to play any direct role in providing for contraceptive coverage to which they object, according to a final interim rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid.

Opponents of the provision blasted the proposal as an accounting gimmick that fails to respect the court’s finding.

“It is simply another clerical layer to an already existing accounting gimmick that does nothing to protect religious freedom because the employer still remains the legal gateway by which these drugs and services will be provided to their employees,” said Arina Grossu, director for the Center for Human Dignity at the conservative Family Research Council.