AUGUSTA, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- Maine's Catholic Church is among the religious organizations decrying a recent Obama administration rule that will require virtually all employers to cover birth control in their health insurance plans without a co-pay.
Maine currently has a requirement that birth control be covered, but many church affiliated organizations, like Catholic charities and Catholic grade schools, are exempt.
The Obama administration rule exempts only organizations whose primary purpose is to promote religious belief, and that means organizations affiliated with churches will have to cover birth control, including the morning after pill, which some religious conservatives consider to be a form of abortion.
Marc Mutty, the public affairs director for Portland's Diocese, says the rule erodes the Church's First Amendment rights. "Under our moral code, [covering birth control through health insurance] is being an agent of sin. You are fully participating in an opportunity for someone to violate their conscience." Mutty says Church organizations are facing a difficult choice: violate their moral codes, or drop health insurance for employees.
Women's rights groups, meanwhile, say this rule is not about religion, it's about women's health. Kate Brogan of the Family Planning Association of Maine said, "Nobody's forcing anybody to take the pill. Nobody's forcing any women to go against their religious beliefs. It's forcing employers and insurance companies to make it available to women if they want to opt for contraception."
Charlotte Warren of the Maine Women's Lobby says the biggest difference for Maine women is that they will no longer have a co-pay for the pill. "It's a step forward because it means that all women should have equal access to contraception. And for us, it's simple. All women should have equal access to contraception."
Religious organizations do not have to cover birth control until 2014, while all other employers must cover it in 2013.
Bishop Richard Malone plans to write a letter that will be read at Maine Catholic churches this weekend, urging church members to voice their concern to the Obama administration. The US Conference of Bishops and other national religious organizations also are in discussion about how to fight the rule.
NEWS CENTER