3/22/12: Cool Reception for Obama Offer on Health Mandate

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The Obama administration’s offer to expand the number of faith-based groups that can be exempt from the controversial contraception and abortafacient mandate is getting a cool reaction from religious groups. The proposal is an effort by the administration to blunt growing criticisms of the controversial regulation.

Jeanne Monahan at the Family Research Council said “At the end of the day, no accounting gimmick changes the fact that the mandate forces religious organizations to pay health insurance companies for coverage to their employees with drugs and services that simply violates their religious convictions.”

And Sister Mary Ann Walsh of U.S. bishops’ conference criticized the timing of the announcement: late Friday as Catholics prepared for the fourth Sunday of Lent.