Gender Discrimination A second area where the 2011 HHS mandate is problematic in terms of public policy concerns claims of gender discrimination. As we saw in the previous section, mandate supporters have argued that excluding contraceptives from prescription drug plans constitutes a violation of both Title VII and the Pregnancy …

Preventive Care The third public policy difficulty with the HHS mandate is the assertion that contraception constitutes preventive care.  Mandate supporters have repeatedly stated this claim, one that is succinctly expressed by Sylvia Law: Much of what standard medical practice does, and much of what health insurance pays for, is …

Concluding Points Before concluding this section on the public policy difficulties with contraceptive mandates, two final points must be made. The first concerns the possible misleading means by with the HHS mandate came about. The mandate arose from Recommendation 5.5 of the Women’s Preventive Services Committee of the Institute of …

August 9, 2012 Catholic News Service ANAHEIM, Calif. — Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson called the number of attendees at the Knights of Columbus 130th supreme convention in Anaheim “a testament to the growth and development” of the international fraternal organization.  

August 7, 2012 By Catholic News Service MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki joined other religious leaders in offering condolences and prayers to the people of the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in suburban Oak Creek following an Aug. 5 shooting spree that left six of the temple’s members dead …

Legal Background The legal justification for mandated contraceptive coverage has its foundation in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In particular, mandate supporters cite Title VII of the act which prohibits discrimination against any person “with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s …

Adding greater complexity to the issue, in 2007 the same 8th Circuit Court of Appeals essentially rejected the revised EEOC guideline when it ruled in In re Union Pacific Railroad that refusing to provide contraceptive coverage did not violate either Title VII or the PDA. This court held that because …

[i] The full title is “Interim Final Rules for Group Health Plans and Heath Insurance Issuers Relating to the Coverage of Preventive Services Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.” The Interim Rules were originally released in July 2010. [ii] The Interim Final Rules does contain a grandfather clause …

July 17, 2012 Catholic News Service CLEVELAND — Wiping sweat from his brow in the stifling heat, parishioner Wojtek Fleszar held up his rosary from atop the pulpit near the main altar of St. Casimir Church, under the mural depicting God as king of creation and Jesus as savior of …

June 28, 2012 Catholic News Service WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court’s June 28 decision upholding the health reform law makes it even more urgent for Congress to act to fix the law’s “fundamental flaws” on abortion funding, conscience protection and immigrants’ access to health care, the U.S. bishops said.