Maryland Catholic Leaders Blast Birth Control Healthcare Law

Catholic services across the country Sunday—with Maryland being no exception—included admonitions against the Obama administration’s requirement that church-affiliated facilities offer birth control coverage in their employee health plans.

Cardinal-designate Edwin F. O'Brien said in a letter that the Archdiocese of Baltimore will not comply with federal law even it means an end to health insurance for its 3,500 employees, the Baltimore Sun reported.

"We cannot–we will not–comply with this unjust law," said the letter, which the Sun reported was read during Mass at the area's 153 Roman Catholic parishes.

Other priests called the plan a purveyor of evil and by later in the week members of Congress weighed in on the controversial new health-care rule that requires employers to provide women workers contraceptive coverage, including sterilization, birth control without a co-pay and “morning-after” drug options. The measure is said to exclude churches but to cover religious colleges and hospitals.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Congress will overturn the policy, raising the possibility of a legislative showdown over religious freedom, according to The Washington Post.

But the organization Catholics for Choice is calling on its supporters to “tell our local media that the bishops are out of touch with the lived reality of the Catholic people” and “do not speak for us on this decision,” according to The New York Times.

Other groups noted that the law does not require women to use birth control, which is prohibited by the Catholic Church.

The Obama administration indicated it would be willing to compromise on the issue, according to The Times.

Obama political adviser David Axelrod said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program that the administration may look at imposing a grace period to “find a resolution that makes sense.”

“We’re going to look for a way to move forward that both guarantees women that basic preventive care that they need and respects the prerogatives of religious institutions,” he said.

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