Two religious colleges have sued the federal government over birth control. This stems from a law that requires employers to cover the cost of birth control in their employer sponsored health insurance plans. Many religious groups feel this law forces them to go against their religious beliefs.
If you haven’t been following this story, let me catch you up with a little background. Last year, the federal government included all FDA approved forms of birth control under the category of preventative care. A previous law requires all health insurance companies to cover the cost of everything that has been defined as preventative care for free in their health insurance plans.
In short, this means that employers who offer their workers an employer-sponsored health plan have to cover the cost of all preventative care – including birth control. This is problematic for religious groups, who feel that the use of birth control, or certain types of birth control, is against their religious beliefs. In short, these employers do not want to have to offer their employees a health plan that covers the cost of birth control.
In response, the federal government allowed for some exemptions to this health reform law. Churches, synagogues, mosques, and other places of worship do not have to offer their employees a health insurance plan that covers birth control. However, religious hospitals, universities, and social service agencies are required to cover birth control in their employer sponsored health plans. They will be given extra time to comply with the law. Non-religious businesses will have to comply with the law relatively soon.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops feels that the exemption, and the extra time to comply with the law, is not good enough. They have said that they will sue the federal government over this issue.
In the meantime, two religious universities have filed a lawsuit about birth control coverage. Belmont Abbey College, a Catholic school in North Carolina, and Colorado Christian University, located near Denver, have filed lawsuits. Oddly enough, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has not yet decided on joining the lawsuits.
If the universities win their lawsuits, it will affect more than their employees. Obviously, if the schools win, it would mean that they would be exempt from having to cover birth control in their employer sponsored health plans. Most universities offer students a health insurance plan. There is potential that the student health plan would also become exempt from having to cover the cost of birth control.
There are two sides to this issue. On one side, are the religious businesses who feel that having to cover the cost of birth control in their employee’s health insurance plans violates the religious beliefs of the business owners.
On the other hand, you have women’s rights groups, who point out that without the protection of the health reform law, hundreds of thousands of women would be denied coverage for birth control, one of the most commonly used forms of healthcare. This includes workers at religious hospitals (who may or may not practice the religion of their employer), as well as students at Catholic universities.
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