PJ: What is interesting to note is that only one republican in the Senate crossed her party with a 'no' vote. So I guess it is safe to say that the GOP is opposed to a woman's choice to not have a baby by using contraception to prevent an unwanted pregnancy. And since their platform says that they are anti-abortion, I guess to prevent that pregnancy, abstinence is the only thing that American women should be practicing. But wait a minute...even if women decide to abstain because they don't want children or already have too many children or perhaps child birth is dangerous for them, according to the GOP's Christian gospel, aren't they suppose to submit to their man? Oy vey, what's a girl to do?
The Guardian
Senate defeats Republican bid to reverse Obama's contraception ruling
Measure, which would have allowed employers to opt out of birth control coverage on religious grounds, defeated 51-48
The Democratic-controlled US Senate has rejected a Republican challenge to President Barack Obama's policy requiring health insurance coverage for contraceptives in an election-year vote that broke largely along party lines.
Senators voted 51-48 on Thursday to set aside a measure from Republican Roy Blunt that would have exempted religiously affiliated institutions including Roman Catholic hospitals, universities and charities from a rule requiring free insurance coverage for women's birth control drugs and devices.
Blunt's amendment aimed to reverse the Obama administration's policy requiring health insurance coverage for women's contraceptives and other preventive services without co-pays or deductibles by allowing health plans and employers to opt out for moral or religious reasons.
Only one Republican, Maine senator Olympia Snowe, crossed party lines to vote with Democrats after expressing concern that the measure's broad language could allow health plans and employers to deny a wide range of healthcare benefits.
Three Democrats – Ben Nelson, Joe Manchin and Robert Casey – voted in support of the amendment.
In general, Democrats sought to cast themselves as defenders of women's healthcare before the vote.
"Today, the Senate will vote on an extreme ideological amendment," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said at the outset of a two-hour floor debate. "It would allow any employer or insurer to deny coverage for virtually any treatment for virtually any reason."
Clashes over women's healthcare rights and social conservative values have escalated into a political firestorm.
Republicans are presenting a religious liberty argument that could resonate with Catholics and other social conservatives while Democrats courting favor with female independent voters.
The debate has become an incendiary social issue leading up to the 6 November presidential and congressional elections.
The Obama administration policy requires almost all employers who provide health insurance to give coverage for women's contraceptives, but exempts places of worship including churches, synagogues and mosques.
The rule was adopted under to a provision in Obama's 2010 healthcare reform law. It covers a wide range of preventive services and has been billed by administration officials as a step intended to reduce unwanted pregnancies and related health problems as well as abortions.
The rule is opposed by Roman Catholic bishops and social conservatives on moral and religious grounds because it would require birth control coverage for women who work for religiously affiliated institutions including hospitals, universities and charities.
In an attempt to quell an election-year uproar, Obama in February announced those employers would not be required to offer free birth control to workers and the onus would instead fall on insurers. The president's "accommodation" is expected to be formulated into legal language and published as a proposed rule soon.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/01/senate-republican-obama-contraception-bill
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