老澳门开奖结果

Most people may be keeping track of the NFL playoffs at the moment, but the big win today went to women. For anyone who鈥檚 keeping score, it鈥檚 women鈥檚 health 鈥� 1, discrimination 鈥� 0, with the Obama administration and thousands of women鈥檚 health proponents who pressured the Administration to do the right thing tied for MVP.

Today, the Obama administration announced that it would keep in place a proposed rule that ensures that new insurance plans include coverage of contraception, and provides an exception for houses of worship. The powerful U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops鈥� lobby, among others, had pressed for months to create gaping loopholes so that a broad range of employers could discriminate against women and deny them coverage for this essential preventive care. They tried to do so in the name of 鈥渞eligious liberty,鈥� but what we know, is that as a nation, we protect religious beliefs, but one person鈥檚 religion must not be used to trump another鈥檚 civil rights protections. Because of the outcry from groups like the 老澳门开奖结果, however, the Obama administration stood up for women鈥檚 health and did not broaden the religious exception. The final rule will give certain religious employers that do not currently cover contraception an additional year to come into compliance.

We also know that the majority of women of childbearing age, regardless of religious background, use some form of birth control for 30 years, at costs that range from $50 per month for oral contraception, to up to $1,000 for longer-acting methods. We use birth control to prevent unintended pregnancies, protect our health, and to plan our lives. That鈥檚 why the nonpartisan Institute of Medicine initially recommended to HHS that insurance companies be required to cover contraceptives in the first place, and why the administration adopted 鈥� and has now confirmed 鈥� that policy.

With today鈥檚 decision, good sense won out over political gamesmanship. And true religious liberty 鈥� which gives everyone the right to make personal decisions, including whether and when to use birth control based on their own beliefs 鈥� prevailed over discrimination.

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