The bishops are correct: religious freedom is one of our most treasured liberties. But we have the right to a government that neither promotes nor disparages religion generally, nor any particular faith.
A requirement that health insurance plans cover birth control with no co-pay will take effect in August. Contrary to recent criticism, the new rule balances religious liberty with the need to protect women's health and expand access to needed care.
The Affordable Care Act offers greater care to more people at lower cost as a nation. Cardinal Dolan's plan would thwart that goal by keeping the overall pool of participants smaller and continue to drive health care costs up. In the end, he is asking Catholics and non Catholics alike to pay more.
It was announced last week that Iowa House members are pushing emergency rulemaking for the state Department of Human Services to halt medical coverage for abortion care in cases of rape or incest, or severe physical or mental fetal deformities. It just doesn’t get more mean-spirited, out of touch and just plain awful than that.
It's bad enough that a victim of sexual assault was jailed for an outstanding warrant when she went to report her rape. But being denied emergency contraception by her guard? No wonder she's suing.
Reaction by women's groups and promoters of health reform to this morning's Supreme Court decision upholding the Affordable Care Act (ACA( was swift and laudatory, though numerous leaders also pointed the gaps that remain to be filled.
Supporters of health reform are celebrating today as the Supreme Court voted to uphold the Affordable Care Act by considering the individual mandate as a tax, which people could choose not to pay and incur the penalties. In a split decision, the court did, however, find that states could opt out of Medicaid expansion requirements, a ruling that will have critical implications for millions of low-income women.
