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Republicans are doubling down in their assault on President Obama’s birth control requirement, insisting that his accommodation of religious nonprofits does not address religious concerns. But by attempting to keep the heat on Obama, the GOP might be diving head-first into a culture war over contraception that social conservatives lost long ago in the minds of the public.
Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said the House will push to repeal the rule entirely, while Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said Republicans will force a vote on legislation permitting any employer to deny birth control coverage in their health insurance plan by claiming a moral or religious objection. “This issue will not go away until the administration simply backs down,” McConnell said Sunday on CBS’ Face The Nation.
Obama’s new policy permits religious nonprofits such as universities, charities and hospitals to opt out of the requirement and instead force the insurance company to pay for their employee’s contraception. (Churches were always exempt.) Republicans dismiss that as a gimmick and not good enough. Boehner’s spokesman Michael Steel called on Obama to “take up the Bishops’ offer to find a resolution that respects all Americans’ Constitutional rights.”
The GOP persistence could come at a cost, as the new rule bolsters Democrats’ efforts to portray the freakout over religious freedom as a Trojan horse for restricting access to contraception generally. If Dems succeed in that effort, it’s an easy battle to win: Americans overwhelmingly believe contraception is morally acceptable, according to a litany of surveys, and even a majority of Catholics agree that insurance plans should be forced to cover free birth control.
