PJ: The Christian church (as well as most organized religions) says that a woman must 'submit' to her husband which means many things but includes submission in a sexual union. The same church does not believe in contraception or abortion. So if a man and a woman are not wealthy (which in America is about 99% of the population), then that woman must risk conceiving a child every time she 'submits' to her husband. By church law she must then carry that child, deliver that child and raise that child along with all her other children. In today's economy, she will also have to work outside the home to help support all the children that she and her husband have brought into the world...after all, according to the church it is God's will that they do so. They might even look to 'home school' all those children to follow in the footsteps of Rick Santorum who does not believe in publically funded education. How they are going to be able to afford all of this is their problem, however, since in the words of a conservative government they're on their own.
Now adays, since the GOP has turned into an extension of the Christian faith with evangelicals a large part of their base, you would think that they would extend their Christain values to government assistance to the needs of the citizens of the country: the majority of people who make up America, the people who pay a greater share of their income in taxes than the rich. You would assume that their stance on abortion and contraception would require them to help protect the sanctity of the home by aiding those who have followed their religious goals of procreation but are now facing difficult times and economic uncertainty. You would expect the GOP to follow good Christian values that would be compassionate toward those in need and especially to the poor. But as Mitt Romney so eloquently put it, they really don't care about the very poor anyway.
Al Jazeera
Obama shifts course on birth control
US president forced to amend new rule requiring employers to offer insurance covering contraception amid backlash.
Barack Obama, the US president, in an abrupt policy shift aimed at quelling an election-year firestorm, announced that religious employers would not be required to offer free birth control to workers and the onus would instead fall on insurers.
But Catholic Church leaders and Obama's Republican foes - who had railed against the rule requiring coverage for contraceptives as a violation of religious freedom - signalled that some divisions remain and the controversial issue could reignite in the 2012 presidential race.
The compromise by Obama sought to accommodate religious organisations, such as Catholic hospitals and universities, outraged by a new rule that would have required them to offer free contraceptive coverage to women employees.
Instead, the revised approach puts the burden on insurance companies, ordering them to provide workers at religious- affiliated institutions with free family planning if they request it, without involving their employer at all.
Insurers voiced concern, raising questions about whether they were consulted about the change.
'Political football'
"Religious liberty will be protected, and a law that requires free preventive care will not discriminate against women," Obama told reporters in the White House briefing room as he sought to put the political furour to rest on Friday.
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops called it a "first step in the right direction" but the group said it was still concerned about the issue and would reserve final judgment.
Weighing in publicly on the matter for the first time, Obama acknowledged that religious groups had genuine reasons for their objections, but he accused some of his opponents of a cynical effort to turn the issue into a "political football".
The rule, announced on January 20, had sparked an outcry not only from Catholic leaders but social conservatives, including Republican presidential hopefuls. It even drew opposition from several Democratic legislators from heavily Catholic states and sowed dissent among some of Obama's senior advisers.
Health insurance giant, Aetna, said it would comply with the policy but needed "to study the mechanics of this unprecedented decision before we can understand how it will be implemented and how it will impact our customers".
Republicans have seized on the issue, seeing a chance to paint Obama as anti-religion and put him on the defensive as signs of economic improvement appear to have re-energised his re-election bid
"I don't care what deal he cuts," Newt Gingrich, the Republican presidential contender, said about the birth-control rule change in a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference.
"If he is re-elected he will wage war on the Catholic Church the day after [he is elected]. We don't trust him."
Broad support
Obama's policy shift was aimed at preventing the controversy from becoming a liability for him with Catholic voters, while at the same time trying not to anger his liberal base.
But Republicans risk alienating some moderate independent voters by hammering on such a divisive social issue at a time when polls show most Americans support birth-control coverage and the fragile economy tops the public's agenda.
Sister Carol Keehan, president of the Catholic Health Association of the US, welcomed the move, saying she was "pleased and grateful that the religious liberty and conscience protection needs of so many ministries that serve our country were appreciated".
The controversy has pushed a sensitive social issue into the media spotlight ahead of November 6 presidential and congressional elections. Republicans hope to use it to galvanise their conservative base, but it is unclear whether it will resonate with the broader electorate.
The issue had triggered intense internal debate in the administration. Prominent Catholics in the White House - including Vice President Joe Biden and Leon Panetta, the defence secretary, - were said to have helped drive the compromise.
The policy shift was welcomed by some women's groups. Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation, issued a statement saying the new plan "does not compromise a woman's ability to access these critical birth control benefits".
Polls indicate a majority of Americans and Catholics support requiring contraception coverage. A Public Religion Research Institute poll last week found 55 per cent of Americans want employers to provide healthcare plans that cover contraception and birth control, including nearly six in 10 Catholics.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2012/02/201221113047468639.html
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