McConnell says "Congress will act" on birth control issue if White House doesn't

By: Stephanie Condon
Topics: Health Care ,; Congress

(Credit: AP Photo/ J. Scott Applewhite)

Republicans are keeping up the pressure on the Obama administration to walk back its new rule on birth control coverage, with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell warning today, "If they don't, Congress will act."

"Make no mistake: the Obama administration's decision to force religious hospitals, charities, and schools to comply with a mandate that violates their religious views is abhorrent to the foundational principles of our nation," McConnell said on the Senate floor.

The Obama administration is requiring employers to provide full health care coverage for contraception as part of its health care reforms. The rule exempts houses of worship like churches or synagogues, but other nonprofits with religious affiliations -- for instance, like a Catholic university -- will have to comply. Those institutions are being granted an extra year to comply with the rule.

Most Americans, including most Catholics, think employers should offer health insurance coverage that covers the cost of birth control, new surveys released Tuesday show. Still, leaders in the Catholic Church have objected to the new rule, and Republicans have seized on the issue to accuse Mr. Obama of infringing upon religious freedoms. The Republican presidential candidates have all weighed in on the matter, and Republicans in Congress have introduced legislation to repeal the rule.

McConnell today said Catholic hospitals and institutions have thrived "because they've been allowed to freely pursue their religious convictions in a country that, until now, respected their constitutional right to do so."

Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer of California said she found the outcry over the new rule "astonishing," given the fact that 28 states already have such a rule in place. She and a handful of other Democrats defended the administration's new rule on the Senate floor after McConnell gave his remarks.

Boxer challenged the wisdom of opposing the rule given the public support for it, saying, "If my [GOP] colleagues decide they're going to take this issue on... I say we're ready."

"This is the 21st century," Boxer said. "Wake up. Women ought to be trusted and respected."

On the House side, more than 150 anti-abortion rights congressmen sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, urging her to reverse the decision.

David Axelrod, a senior strategist for Mr. Obama's 2012 campaign, said on MSNBC on Tuesday morning, "We're going to look for a way to move forward that both provides women with the preventive care that they need and respects the prerogatives of religious institutions."

But when questioned about the rule in a White House briefing today, spokesman Jay Carney said unequivocally that the rule will not be reconsidered.

"The President is committed to making sure that all women have access to these important preventive services," he said. "But I think it is important to remember what was clearly stated when this policy decision was announced and that is that we will be working with those organizations and individuals who have concerns about the implementation of this rule."

Stephanie Condon
Stephanie Condon is a political reporter for CBSNews.com.
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by benunhappy February 10, 2012 12:58 PM EST: I was unemployed for nearly a year and was notified by the church that tuition was passed due. I met with members of the ST.VINCENT-DEPAUL SOCIETY and they agreed to assist with my expenses if I would do some work for my parish. Upon completing my work and volunteering I was again notified by the Priest of my parish that the ARCHDIOSESES would not recognize the agreement that was made in behalf of the ST. VINCENT-DEPAUL society and that in the priest own words" If you can't pay the entire amount right now than the church will embarass your children in front of their classmates and have them removed from class". I asked what happened to the church who came to the aide of those in need and was informed that" this is a Buisness and if you don't pay you cannot belong". I called this man in black everything but a man of the cloth! If they consider themselves as a buisness then they should be taxed and ordered to follow the same laws everyone else has to!They cannot abuse children without facing punishment from our court system. There used to be a seperation of church and state for many reasons, for protection from extermist and those who demand more power over the people are a few reasons.WE catholics are able to say what we think is right and wrong and have the right to question anything that forced upon us.We have been lied too to many times in the past to beleive everything that the church tells us.Search in your soul for the answers,GOd will answer; Reply to this comment

by frankkburns February 9, 2012 6:57 PM EST

My own religious conviction is that God punishes us with disease and rewards us with good health, and that it is a sin to ever try to intervene in his will medically.
I'm therefore stripping practically everything out of my employees' policies. If I can't, I won't be able to sleep nights, because I would have a guilty conscience imagining to what unnatural ends they might choose to apply their insurance, and of course I can't be stopped from stripping out those policies, because my Republican friends are backing me on this, since it is a matter of my own religious freedom.
Plus, I save a lot on the health premiums I pay to cover my work force, since their pay package basically only includes chiropractic care and homeopathy, which don't offend my religious scruples because I deem them entirely ineffective.

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by nancy_naive February 10, 2012 6:34 AM EST: You should join my "Rhythm of Life Church", our religious beliefs are whatever are needed to be expedient.


by 92F150 February 8, 2012 7:46 PM EST: This church will win the right to be exempt but it will likely work against them long-term. I'm sure the government can come up with some contraceptive debit card it can send to the church employees. It will work against the church because average folks will just view them as forcing their will on women while the government will be viewed as supporting women's choices. I'm not sure this church is doing the right thing...I feel they should follow the law rather than get special treatment. They can still advise church members not to use it but should not have monetary power of influence over anyone's choice especially with employees of other religions. To me, the individual liberty trumps religious freedom in the constitution.; Reply to this comment

by nanc12 February 8, 2012 7:00 PM EST

I love this stand by the repubs. Most of the country agrees that they should provide coverage for birth control. Do you know a Catholic that agrees with the church on birth control? I don't - they all use it. Maybe the compromise could be that they can choose not to obey the government mandate, and the government can choose to take away their tax-exempt status, or not give them government funding.

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by frankkburns February 9, 2012 6:56 PM EST: My own religious conviction is that God punishes us with disease and rewards us with good health, and that it is a sin to ever try to intervene in his will medically.
I'm therefore stripping practically everything out of my employees' policies. If I can't, I won't be able to sleep nights, because I would have a guilty conscience imagining to what unnatural ends they might choose to apply their insurance, and of course I can't be stopped from stripping out those policies, because my Republican friends are backing me on this, since it is a matter of my own religious freedom.
Plus, I save a lot on the health premiums I pay to cover my work force, since their pay package basically only includes chiropractic care and homeopathy, which don't offend my religious scruples because I deem them entirely ineffective.

by soap-suds February 8, 2012 6:30 PM EST

It appears to me that what is happening is that some people want to allow the Catholic Hospitals to deny individuals their legal right to use contraceptives if they want to by forcing Catholic ideology on them! The President is not forcing anyone to use or not use contraceptives, so where is the individual Constitutional issue?

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by dj_chi February 8, 2012 7:03 PM EST: Exactly right. the contraceptives have to be available, they aren't required to push the drug on people who don't want them. I haven't looked, but I'm guessing the issue is catholic hospitals taking government money, but not supporting public policy where it overlaps with religious restrictions?


by nadorick01 February 8, 2012 7:07 PM EST: Hey Suds- The Catholics are not saying someone cannot use contraceptives. They just don't want to have to give it to them for free since they don't agree with its use. Anyone working at one of their facilities can buy all they want.

by servorum February 8, 2012 6:24 PM EST

I say go GOP as well even though I'm a long term registered Democrat.
So Boxer says bring it on, does she? Fine, because she has no idea of the s**t storm that's headed her way.

Bring it on indeed. It's a form of political suicide.
The Democrats have abandoned the very people and values that made them such a better alternative to the Republicans in the past.
Go GOP.

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by dj_chi February 8, 2012 7:00 PM EST: But most people want this. The s**tstorm will be coming from the minority.


by benunhappy February 10, 2012 11:55 AM EST: The GOP and the church want to play GOD. Where was this GOP when we were under 8 years of BUSHCRAP, they didnt try to make changes then! its another No to something positive that works for ALL americans not just those who don't pronounce themselves as catholics. Follw GOD'S LAW and you will be FREE, Man's rules from the church is for those who need to be LED BY THE HAND for they have been manipulated by those who want to remake the words that were written through someone elses testimony of certain accounts. Don't think you can murder, abuse and lie because will be forgiven, you can't pick and choose GOD's LAW. IF the church wants AMERICA to follow them then they should pay for all non-catholic diseases due to lack of healthcare


by aheadace February 8, 2012 6:17 PM EST: One of the problems is that the insurance companies have to provide this Mitch McConnell is in bed with the insurance people that will have to provide this and it will cost them money number 2 Mitch is a racists he is making the state of Kentucky look bad.; Reply to this comment

by jade84116 February 8, 2012 5:53 PM EST

This attack on religious conscience is deplorable. Go GOP!

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by benunhappy February 10, 2012 12:01 PM EST: YOU should be in control of your religious conscience not Politicians and if the CHURCH supports the GOP then it WILL suffer and FALL, for they (church and GOP) have forgotten the Cammandments of GOD , #1,#6,#7,#8 #9 #10


by thinkdeeply8 February 8, 2012 5:36 PM EST: Its hard to grasp the concept of birth control being against some people's religious beliefs. Maybe it's because I didn't grow up during the 1750's.; Reply to this comment


by cigar-smoker February 8, 2012 5:23 PM EST: If the law forced someone to use birth control I would have a big issue with that. But the law only requires that birth control be made available for those who choose to use it. I doubt the GOP will go far on this issue and the chance of "political blowback" is definitely there.; Reply to this comment