Protestant, Jewish leaders also oppose contraceptive-coverage mandate

As reported by the Associated Baptist Press:

More than 60 Protestant and Orthodox Jewish religious leaders wrote the White House Dec. 21 asking President Obama not to implement a mandate requiring all private insurers to provide contraception and sterilization coverage.

Guidelines announced by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Aug. 1 include a religious exemption designed for the Catholic Church, which does not believe in artificial birth control. Catholics say the exemption, which protects seminaries and a few churches, is too narrow to protect the conscience of all Catholics.

Leaders including the Southern Baptist Convention’s Richard Land, however, pointed out that Catholics aren’t alone in their opposition to the proposed regulations.

“We write not in opposition to Catholic leaders and organizations; rather, we write in solidarity, but separately — to stress that religious organizations and leaders of other faiths are also deeply troubled by and opposed to the mandate and the narrow exemption,” the letter said.

The Protestant and Jewish leaders said Catholics aren’t the only faith group that opposes the use of contraceptives like the “morning-after” pill, which controls birth by removing an egg after it has been fertilized. They say the “religious employer” exemption is so narrow that it leaves many faith-based organizations unprotected.

Read the entire piece, “Non-Catholics join opposition to contraceptive-coverage mandate” (Jan. 3, 2012).