Even after President Barack Obama reversed course Friday on his controversial birth control policy, Nebraska lawmakers say the administration "doesn't get it" and that his new policy remains an "insult" to religious institutions.
BACKGROUND: The Obama administration found itself in the center of controversy on Jan. 20 when it declared that religious-affiliated employers outside of churches and houses of worships had to cover birth control free of charge as preventative care for women.
These hospitals, schools and charities were given an extra year to comply, until August 2013, but that concession failed to satisfy opponents, including Catholic cardinals and bishops, Republican leaders in Congress and prominent lawmakers from Obama's own party.
NEW POLICY:
• Religious employers will not be required to offer contraception and will not have to refer their employees to places that provide it.
• The employer's insurance company must provide birth control for free in a separate arrangement with workers who want it.
• The change will still take affect with an extra year built in, in August 2013.
REACTIONS FROM NEBRASKA AND IOWA LAWMAKERS:
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Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., issued this statement after President Barack Obama's announcement on contraception services:
“Forcing faith-based employers like Catholic universities, hospitals, and charities – to pay for abortion-triggering drugs and contraception - services that they consider immoral, was a horrible misstep. It was an attack on the free exercise of religion, guaranteed to Americans by the U.S. Constitution, and a misguided effort to expand the Federal Government's powers even further. But this goes beyond church-affiliated hospitals and charities – small business owners who have religious objections are still be forced to pay an insurance company for coverage that includes abortion-triggering drugs and contraception. The abortion provision was and continues to be an insult – to American Catholics, and all Americans who love our Constitution, the freedoms it guarantees us, and the limited powers that it allows our government."
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Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., issued the following statement Friday on the president's announcement regarding contraceptives.
"The President simply doesn't get it. The fact is, for the federal government to require every health care plan in the country to include contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs is wrong. This is not about who's put in charge of making sure it happens. If it is forced by the government, religious organizations still must provide it and that's a violation of conscience rights, period. That the President wants it to happen at all shows how disconnected he is from the churches, hospitals, and every American whose conscience is violated by this rule. When he spoke to the 2009 graduates of the University of Notre Dame, he asserted the need to 'honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion, and draft a sensible conscience clause.' Though he may call this a compromise, asking people of faith to turn their backs on their deeply held beliefs is anything but. The one thing you cannot compromise is your conscience, and the only way to avoid this dilemma is to repeal the mandate and protect fundamental rights granted by the Constitution."
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Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., issued this statement:
“The bipartisan outcry across the country reflects the importance of this issue. Despite today's actions, this mandate continues to intrude on the Constitutionally protected right to practice one's religion freely.”
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Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, issued this statement:
“The most important thing in this debate is that women have access to the preventive health services that they need, want, and deserve – and that includes contraception. I am pleased that the President is continuing to insist that this is the case and I am going to do everything in my power to ensure that is the case while this final rule is being written.”
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Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa:
"Adhering to one of this country's most valued principles shouldn't be an afterthought. Unfortunately, though, disregarding the Constitution has become an all too common pattern for this administration. Its latest questionable move challenging religious freedom raised the ire of people across the country. The administration's attempt to reverse this outright affront to religious freedom falls short and continues to highlight the concern of many of us that the health care law overreaches into personal freedoms and liberties."
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