They're not going to like this
Reaction to President Obama's new accommodations for religiously affiliated non-profit institutions in the new birth control rules is generally positive, including some Catholic organizations. Most significantly, the
Catholic Health Association the trade group representing Catholic hospitals which had fought agains the rule, supports the change. The president of the association is "pleased with the revised rule."
"The framework developed has responded to the issues we identified that needed to be fixed," Sister Carol Keehan said in a statement.
Likewise, Catholics United
supports the change and urges the Conference of Bishops to accept it.
“Catholics United has been calling on both sides of this heated debate to work towards today's win-win solution,” said James Salt, executive director of Catholics United. “President Obama has shown us that he is willing to rise above the partisan fray to deliver an actual policy solution that both meets the health care needs of all employees and respects the religious liberty of Catholic institutions."
Today's announcement will also be a test for the Catholic bishops, who have indicated that they are opposed to compromise.
“I am eager to see the response of the Catholic bishops, and I hope and pray in their wisdom they see the value of finding a solution,” Salt said. “If the bishops are unwilling to recognize the value of compromise, I suspect their opposition is more about playing politics than serving the needs of the people.”
Women's organizations are thus far supportive, since the policy retains the key element—no cost contraceptive coverage for women. Planned Parenthood's Cecile Richards
says:
“In the face of a misleading and outrageous assault on women’s health, the Obama administration has reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring all women will have access to birth control coverage, with no costly co-pays, no additional hurdles, and no matter where they work."
Emily's list
supports the policy.
Emily's List: "We’re reassured that it appears that no woman, no matter where she works, will lose birth control coverage"
— @samsteinhp via TweetDeck
The Conference of Catholic Bishops has yet to weigh in on the change.
8:54 AM PT: Terry O'Neill, president of the National Organization for Women says:
“The president is making a statement that women are entitled to have birth control,” O’Neill says. “Birth control is an essential part of health care for women, and the president is standing strong for that policy.“