NOW pushes Obama to stand firm on birth control

The National Organization for Women (NOW), the largest organization of feminist activists in the U.S., has joined reproductive rights advocates in asking President Obama not to cave in to pressure from the Catholic leaders asking that he strike a recent decision that increases access to birth control for women.

A couple of months ago, a federal health agency announced it would require health insurance companies to cover contraception as preventive care — which would remove co-payments. A final decision on whether the administration will stand its ground and keep the policy is expected some time this week.

Women’s health advocates have feared the president will capitulate to the demands of some of the biggest opponents to the policy: Catholic bishops.

The bishops’ demands have ranged from asking the policy be stricken “in its entirety” to asking that the rule allow a broad exemption for religious objectors. Catholic leaders have said the existing exemption is “too limited” and might leave out Catholic hospitals.

Women’s group — including NOW — are asking the president to not give in.

According to NOW’s recent press release:

The National Organization for Women calls on the Obama administration to stand up for women and not give in to demands from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops that would deny birth control coverage for millions of women. The bishops have been lobbying the administration to expand a religious exemption that would allow a broad range of religiously affiliated organizations, such as colleges and hospitals, to take contraception coverage away from women who rely on them for health insurance. NOW calls on the president to remove the exemption altogether.

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A recent poll by Thomson Reuters-NPR Health found that 77 percent of Americans believe private medical insurance should provide birth control without co-pays. Ninety-nine percent of sexually active women have used contraception, including 98 percent of sexually active Catholic women, as reported by the Guttmacher Institute. Yet this important health benefit could be lost for more than a million women and their families, and the decision will soon be made by the Obama administration.

The ill-considered proposed refusal clause in the women’s birth control benefit undermines women’s access to basic health care. NOW urges President Obama and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to say ‘yes’ to contraceptive coverage for all women and ‘no’ to the bishops’ relentless attempts to deny women their rights.