You don't have to use it, it's just they'll cover if it if you decide so.

The purpose of the law is to prevent employers from discriminating against their employees when it comes to health care options. Catholicism is seeking an exception in order to substitute Canon Law above the law of the land. Now imagine we were having this conversation about Sharia Law... Oy-ve! (Rev. KB)

Wht percentage of Catholic hospitals doe nor PRESCRIBE contraceptives. I was getting them from a Catholic Hospital owned physician group as long a 25 years ago. Catholic hospitals & universities are not the same thing as churches/schools (exempt). Hospitals in particvular are already getting 505% of their income from the feds.

Contraception is not 100% effective, so you will still be funding abortions genius...
Step it up a notch for sexual activity. Don't forget that contraception does not prevent STD's. So lets continue the cycle of sexual addiction with more STD's and abortions. Sex in the city USA!!! Maybe everyone needs to be careful with their eyes and act more responsible. Get ready government can't and should not do it all. I can't take care of myself please help me Mr. President...I can't be stop myself sexually...I gotta have it all the time.

Jay, You are obviously not a woman... there is no reason why, if contraception is considered a health need that it should be disallowed due to religious bug-a boo!!
I agree if with C if this was Sharia law and actually it might very well be, we would not be having this conversation, but it is the very sacrosanct Catholic Church so we have to hold our noses and just acquiesce? C'mon it is 2012!

If the Catholic Church can't/shouldn't get an exemption from Obamacare mandates, perhaps someone can explain how/why thousands of oganizations, unions and corporations received exemptions from mandates imposed under Obamacare. I guess it's probably because the Church didn't contribute to Mr. Obama's re-election campaign.

This poll presents a false choice. It's clear that the churches themselves will get the exemption. The only issue is whether the hospitals and schools should get an exemption.

Being catholic. I still believe that te healthcare should cover birth control. No one has to use it. But it is their for them if they can not afford if. And for all you men the pull and pray works if the men have control over their body not necessarily the same control a wife has. sex is not bad in the catholic religion but having 19 children is not for everyone.

It's called BIRTH CONTROL for a reason. Do you really want the goverenment in CONTROL of birth? Do you want to find our nation like China one day? The government needs to stay out of CONTROL of the personal sexual lives of Americans. Some people are so dumb, can't look past their own sexual organs.
You should never ever want the government involved in forcing birth control on anyone, are you asking to lose your independance? You want to be viewed as cattle?
This is a major interference with a persons "right to choose" and the Catholic church chooses not to provide for anyones BIRTH CONTROL particularly if the government mandates it, yes that is a red flag people. Save your pennies, get rid of some of the little extras ladies and buy your own birth control, keep the government out of your intimate lives, smarten up!

Seperation of church and state is why we can have religious freedom. Like it or not, Catholic hospitals are part of the Catholic church/faith. Being Catholic myself, I don't always agree with everything the Church states, but that is my choice. To force change upon the church is the beginning of forcing change anywhere the government chooses. And no, a Catholic hospital will not do an abortion or a tubal ligatiion. Will that be the next issue forced. There are other methods of birth control people can choose, condoms for one. Don't be so quick to decide on this issue, it could send us all down a slippery slope.

Joanne we as a nation have been sliding down this slippery slope for years now, it's getting more slippery with each passing year. The word you chose, "FORCED" cannot be understated. I just hope people are careful about what they wish for.

Everyone seems to be missing the point. Birth control pills are also used for other reasons. Should a woman who needs them to control fybroids or endometriosis, not get covered for the medication that she needs, simply because she works for a catholic hospital? I think not. It makes me very sad that so few in this country look at the big picture anymore. As for Jay, what planet are you from? Just because someone wants to be responsible and not bring a child into this world that they cannot handle/afford, does not mean that they are sex crazy. If a married couple has several children, why should they have to take a chance on having another?

Schools can not have prayer, we now have Winter Holiday Parties, and can't put crosses on Public land. Yet, now we have the Federal Government telling religious groups what they must provide. The premise behind Obamacare was to provide Healthcare to those who could not afford it. Now it is becoming more of a Socialistic agenda except that you are forced to pay for it. This is slowly becoming a errosion of Freedom of Choice in this Land of the Free. The Federal Government wants to tell you what to provide and if you make money it wants to spend it for you. Don't you find it strange that the Obama Administration can claim that Jesus wants you to pay more taxes, and then with the same breath tell Religious Organizations what to do, even if it's against their teachings or beliefs.

Sorry, but I MUST write back, with my realization that if the Rhythm method was approved by the Catholic church over 40 years ago, as BIRTH CONTROL then what the hell are we taling about here? simply a different method of birth control being offered.

We're not necessarily talking about Catholics. I'm wondering how many Catholic hospitals could function if it had only Catholic nurses, doctors, janitors, etc. working there. They deserve to have a decent health care plan.

Can't you all see that this is the Big government getting into our bedrooms? Pretty soon, you watch all religious organizations will be told what to do. We can't pray in public schools, put up crosses, don't keep God in our pledge of allegiance, and I could go on. I saw this coming when we were promised that America would be fundamentally changed. And here we are with more to come if we don't stop the runaway train.

So sick of the religious right dictating what the government should do.
This is simply giving access to all women fairly. Nobody is forcing you to take it.
We already have socialized medicine, it is called medicare and medicaid. The former administration was "hands off" and the economy crashed and burned. Obama has done a great job of saving us from the financial sector collapse and has finally made some progress in broadening the medical insurance coverage available to all. The medical insurance industry has been a nightmare for a long time.

The Government should constitutionally not be permitted to have a place in this regardless of religious concerns. It's an invasion of liberty. If you want such benefits you should seek work from an employer that provides it. If it really is in such demand by the people then the employer will be forced to provide it otherwise it would not be able sustain itself without it's 'labor' force. People should learn how to negotiate and take care of themselves rather then depending on the Government for such things. The problem with such policy is it creates a standard in which the Government can later claim the right to intervene. People vote with their choices and this is the smallest of ways our liberties are being let go. There are bigger issues that I feel are being overlooked as well. We have forgotten what Liberty is and how important it is in ALL facets and we continue willingly give it up.

Right on Chris! Don't you just love the hate that pours out of the left against the right?
The left want a socialist govt taking care of their every need. It's the religious organizations that feed the poor voluntarily, give 10% of their income to charity. I would love to know how much the others give of their bounty (no strings attached)

She can get them free from Planned Parenthood.

Contraceptives are available now for anyone who needs them. Why should the government be allowed to tell churches (Catholic or otherwise), businesses or people what they should or should not be doing? People really enjoy the "separation of church and state" when they're whining about a Christmas tree but when it's the other way around...watch out! Here come the crazy christians!
Obama is fundamentally a socialist, he believes the government is here to provide - the reality - it isn't.

Unfortunately it is much much deeper then that. While I agree that the left want a socialist government I believe both sides heavily do right now. Conservatives are damaging to our civil liberties as well.

It was both sides that passed NDAA allowing the president in the time of war to arrest, detain, charge, and murder without trial American citizens (can't wait till that's used by some one wrongly - if we even find out about it.). It was bot sides who passed the patriot act. And it's both sides who are attempting to pass internet 'reform'.

What is gong on right now is an attack on liberty itself whereas all of these problems are being blamed on Capitalism. True capitalism HAS NOT been allowed to operate since WWII and it's all this government intervention that is causing the havoc.

I can go on forever but I think one thing everyone over looks is that we cannot afford to keep up this spending regardless of what it's for. We now owe per citizen more then Greece by about 10,000 dollars and our Debt to GDP is above 100%. We are spending far more then we are putting out and china especially has stopped lending and started to sell our treasuries.

This could mean a disaster bigger then contraceptives at home.

The democrats want socialism in terms of welfare and the republicans want it to feed the military industrial complex and continue to run around the world 'protecting' us. Far lives have now been lost to terrorism rather then by it. While I belive that we should find and punish those responsible I think we are doing it in the most costly and clumbsy way. Also I think any sitting President should have to seek approval from Congress and hence the people before starting a war. Both Bush and Obama love to bypass this.

People should be arguing over how we are going to make and handle these cuts rather then what our jobs should be giving us and how we can force them to. They should be figuring out the debt rather then having this notion that the Rich will finally pay their share and it will all be okay.

As some one of the younger generation I'm both appalled and afraid for my future and my country. The value of the dollar is lost daily through inflation and devaluation and my 'debt' rises as the people continue to allow deficiet spending with no real reductions in the future. The government provides so much for us now, and not just since Obama, that I think we have no idea just how bad it is.

I see a lot of pain ahead especially by ways of inflation and trouble for our currency. I suggest strongly that you all REALLY look into this, vote Ron Paul as he's the ONLY candidate that will make any actual cuts and PREDICTED our housing market/financial crisis in 2003

Start here : (This is not Ron Paul or politics related)

http://youtu.be/v1U1Jzdghjk - About Economic Freedom
http://youtu.be/F4fWQnguR1E - The U.S. and Economic Freedom from BUSH to Obama
http://youtu.be/EgMclXX5msc - Why NO ONE should be surprised of the Meltdown (This is an hour long but VERY good to understanding what has happened and why).

I'm pretty certain that Bush did get approval from Congress before going to war, but you're right on Obama, he did not. A vote for Ron Paul is just basically a vote for Obama. A third party candidate has absolutely zero chance of winning in the next election. I like his ideas on government but his foreign policy is so horrible that it doesn't matter.

Someone made the comment about about all the organizations and unions that have received hundreds of exemptions from the mandates in Obamacare. Why can't the Catholic Church & Health System receive similar exemptions now? Look it up. There are hundreds of companies and many, many, unions that filed for exemptions. They lobbied to get Obama in office, then when he put through exactly what he said he would, they immediately filed for exemptions. This is a great reason why insurance, and many other 'things', should remain in private hands and not be run under a gov't umbrella. The federal gov't should not be in the business of forcing institutions or citizens to get anything, or buy anything, or support anything. For years and years the Catholic Health System worked 'perfectly' fine not offering contraception to employees (addresses those who posted above that a woman might need birth control pills for other medical issue). 5, 10, 15, 20 years ago this was pretty much a non-issue. Now, all of a sudden, everyone thinks the gov't should be providing (mandating) everything. The anger should be directed at a gov't that is out-of-control, over spends, and over steps its bounds. If you want these benefits, go work for an organization that provides them.

It's important to note that religious groups - churches, mosques, etc. - are exempt from this mandate. Secular organizations that serve the public and employ people of various faiths are not.

Moreover, the mandate has been modified so that organizations that object to it may opt out and employees of those organizations may get coverage for birth control directly from the insurance companies who must provide it at no cost.