I don't understand, since Catholics don't use birth control....

[YewNork]

why should the church worry whether their plans cover it? After all, even if the plans cover it, Catholics won't be buying any birth control, so the plans will not have any expenses that pay for birth control. I think Republicans are just trying to generate hype.

Plus, how many people have control over what their plans cover and don't cover. If my employer based health insurance plan stops or starts covering something, and I don't like it, my only choice is to find another job.

[Curmudgeoness]

1. It is true that you have little control over what your employer plan covers.

But that is not the issue here.

First, you are making an assumption that Catholics do not use birth control, and that is not true. Polling shows that 80% of Catholics do use birth control....and looking at the families of Catholics bears this out. Gone are the days of huge families for most Catholics.

Second, this law does not require the church as an employer to cover birth control, but what it is making them do is to cover employees of all the offshoot businesses that they run. There are a number of Catholic-run hospitals, and every employee of that hospital is not a Catholic---in fact, I would bet that most of the employees are not Catholic.

You did hit the nail on the head that this is just being used to generate hype. The Republicans have done very well at taking hot button issues and creating firestorms over these things while ignoring the real issues. People get bored with the budget and foreign affairs but they jump on these emotional issues. However, this one may bite them in the ass. They do not want abortion, but they are unwilling to prevent unwanted pregancies. They don't want Planned Parenthood to exist, but they will force large numbers of women to have to use them to get birth control at a price they can afford. They will alienate so many of the voters who do use birth control---and when you look at the size of families today, you will have no doubt that there is widespread use of contraception.

I hope they reap what they have sown.