White House: No More Compromise on Contraception

WSJ ^ | FEBRUARY 12, 2012 | Jared A. Favole & Julian E. Barnes

[Qbert]

White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew on Sunday defended President Barack Obama’s decision to relax a requirement that religious employers cover contraception in health plans, saying the president struck an appropriate balance and wasn’t open to further compromise.

“I have to say that the solution that we came up with puts no religious institution in a position where it either has to pay for or facilitate the provision of benefits they find objectionable,” Mr. Lew said on CNN’s State of the Union with Candy Crowley.

Mr. Lew said the president put out a solid plan, and when asked whether there is more room for compromising said, “No. This is our plan.”

In an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Mr. Lew said, “We’re going to go ahead and implement it.” He said the White House has “broad consensus – not universal consensus – that this is an approach that’s right.”

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said Friday it wanted the entire birth-control mandate rescinded.  “The only complete solution to this religious liberty problem is for [Health and Human Services] to rescind the mandate of these objectionable services,” the bishops said in a statement issued late Friday.

“We note that today’s proposal continues to involve needless government intrusion in the internal governance of religious institutions, and to threaten government coercion of religious people and groups to violate their most deeply held convictions,” the bishops said, while also urging Catholics to write to their representatives in opposition to the policy.

A long fight could damage the president’s support among Catholics who favored him in the last presidential election.

[ctdonath2]

Every oppressive tyranny starts with severe population reduction. Mass exterminations or deportations being untenable (RKBA perhaps being a factor), collapsing the population replacement rate is a surprisingly palatable alternative.