House Speaker Paul Ryan freely admits that he's got absolutely nuthin' when it comes to replacing Obamacare. But that's not going to stop him from being as politically obnoxious as he possibly can be on this issue. For example:
Two leaders of the order of Catholic nuns waging a court battle against President Obama’s signature health-care reform law will attend his final State of the Union address Tuesday as guests of House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis).
The Little Sisters of Poor are challenging the health law's requirement that group insurance plans offer contraceptive coverage at no additional cost. The order runs 30 nursing homes across various countries, and while it has taken advantage of a "conscience clause" in the health law meant to accommodate religious objections, its female employees remain eligible for free birth control from a third party thanks to a workaround devised by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The Little Sisters object to this workaround, which requires they send a letter to either their insurance company or the government saying they think birth control is icky and they don't want their names associated with it. They're not paying for the birth control for their employees, and they're not authorizing that coverage. They're merely required to send a letter, and they allege that requirement is just far too onerous and horrible and makes them complicit in people having non-reproductive, sex so they won't do it. Their case will be heard by the Supreme Court this year, and Paul Ryan finds this all so compelling that he's bringing them to the SOTU.
But, of course, this challenge doesn't have anything to do with politics. No, not at all. It's all about freedom of religion.