SENATE REJECTS ANTI-CONTRACEPTION AMENDMENT
In a 51-48 vote on March 1, the Senate rejected a controversial amendment that would have allowed health plans to decline to cover health services to which the plan or its sponsor has a moral or religious objection. The amendment would have reversed a rule that was created pursuant to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).
The amendment, proposed by Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Missouri), would have been added to a $109 billion transportation bill. It was introduced in response to a federal rule, proposed last August, that exempts nonprofit religious employers (including houses of worship) from the requirement that health plans cover services defined as “essential health benefits.” The federal government has determined that contraception should be an “essential health benefit” under PPACA.
Although the government’s rule exempts churches, faith-based schools and hospitals will be required to cover birth control for their employees without charge. Critics of the rule assert that it encroaches on constitutionally protected religious freedoms.
Critics of the Blunt amendment, however, pointed out that it would allow insurers to refuse to cover other types of services as well. In a statement, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said, “This proposal isn’t limited to contraception, nor is it limited to any preventive service. Any employer could restrict access to any service they say they object to. This is dangerous and wrong.”
The government has said that it is willing to compromise with religious groups, but no satisfactory potential solution has been identified. The constitutionality of the proposed federal rule is assured by landmark “right to privacy” cases like Roe v. Wade and Griswold v. Connecticut, which guarantee the right to use contraceptives.