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| FORCED COVERAGE OF CONTRACEPTION As Director of Pro-Life Activities for the Nebraska Catholic Conference,
one of my responsibilities is to advocate the positions of the Church
on life issues in the public policy arena. As difficult as this
task is in respect to abortion and euthanasia, its challenge increases
exponentially when it comes to proclaiming the truth about contraception
and the contraceptive mentality it spawns. Public Policy Landscape Planned Parenthood's latest effort to culturally institutionalize the practice of contraception comes in the form of a multifaceted stratagem that would obligate insurance companies and employers to cover contraceptive pills, devices and procedures. This agenda is not only assiduously pursued through legislative and policy activity at every level of government but also through a litigation strategy in the courts. For example, 17 states (CA, CT, DE, GA, HI, IA, ME, MD, MO, NV, NH, NM, NC, RI, TX, VT, and WA) have laws forcing health insurance plans, regulated by the state, to cover the cost of contraception. In addition, 48 bills have been introduced in 20 other states to do the same thing. While all but five (GA, IA, NH, VT, WA) of these states have some form of conscience clause as part of its contraceptive mandate, none provides full protection of conscience. For example, California's law allows an exemption for churches that was tailored so narrowly that it does not apply to many Catholic institutions, including hospitals, universities and social service agencies. Catholic Charities of Sacramento challenged the law in court on the grounds that the law violates the organization's religious freedom. To date, the county and appellate courts have rejected the lawsuit, but the California Supreme Court has agreed to review the rulings. At the federal level, contraception proponents have already succeeded in forcing the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program (FEHBP) to cover contraceptive pills, devices and procedures. The law allows conscience protection based only on religious beliefs, not moral convictions. Far more insidious and wide reaching is the "Equity in Prescription and Contraceptive Coverage Act of 2001" (EPICC) introduced in the U.S. Senate (S. 104) with 42 co-sponsors (13 of which are "Catholic"). This bill would force all health plans, nationwide, that provide coverage for prescription drugs and outpatient services to also provide equal coverage for prescription contraceptives and outpatient contraceptive procedures. Moreover, the bill would apply even to self-funded plans (unlike state mandates) and would have no conscience clause. According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, "In addition to the ongoing legislative and policy activity, a litigation strategy to advance the cause of contraceptive coverage commenced in July 2000 when Planned Parenthood of Western Washington and Planned Parenthood Federation of America went to court to argue that exclusion of contraceptive coverage amounts to illegal sex discrimination." 1 In this case (Erickson v. Bartell Drug Co.), pharmacist Jennifer Erickson sued Bartell Drug Company to force her employer to provide insurance coverage for prescription contraceptives. In June 2000, a U.S. District Court in Washington ruled that it is illegal for Bartell to exclude prescription contraceptives from an otherwise comprehensive prescription drug plan. The court's ruling was largely based on a December 2000 ruling by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) which determined that an employer's failure to provide contraceptive coverage as a component of prescription drug coverage constitutes illegal gender discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Although both of these rulings technically apply only to the parties in dispute, they are likely to serve as a basis for further lawsuits. Indeed, as the Guttmacher article cited explains, "While [these cases] are momentous, making their decisions a reality . . . may depend on more women being willing to sue their employers." A Wakeup Call My first confrontation with the forced contraceptive coverage agenda was in 1999 when a state version of EPICC was introduced in Nebraska. The Nebraska Catholic Conference testified and lobbied against the bill, but we were handicapped by the fact that some Catholic institutions and even dioceses have health plans that pay for contraception. How credible can we be in arguing that forced coverage of contraceptives violates our religious liberties when some Catholic institutions and dioceses are covering contraceptives voluntarily? We quickly discovered the difficulty of making a case against contraception in the public policy arena when it is not being faithfully and zealously made in our Catholic Churches and institutions. Fortunately, the insurance industry in Nebraska has, to date, opposed this mandate. However, if the insurance industry drops its opposition as it has in many other states, our efforts to stop forced coverage of contraception will be infinitely more difficult. So what can we do? Learn, Embrace and Proclaim Pope John Paul II spent the first five years of his pontificate (during his Wednesday audiences) trying to give us a deeper understanding of the sacred beauty, truth and meaning of our gift of sexuality. Such emphasis and priority on what the Vicar of Christ calls the "theology of the body" should give us pause and lead us to reflect on its importance. Surely, most of us would acknowledge that having a proper and healthy understanding of our gift of sexuality is central to our happiness and to a fuller and deeper understanding of what it means to be a person. This is why it is tragic that so many Catholics have rejected the Church's teaching on contraception. While I have not yet fully comprehended this teaching, I have seen a glimpse of its natural and supernatural beauty and truth, and it motivates me to want to learn more about it and to share this treasure with others. So one vital step that must be taken to uproot our contraceptive culture is for Catholics (laity and clergy) to learn, embrace and proclaim this teaching. There are a number of excellent resources to help us with this task, including Church documents such as Evangelium Vitae, Humanae Vitae, Familiaris Consortio, Theology of the Body, Donum Vitae, and The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality.2 There are also committed organizations to help us on this journey: the Pope Paul VI Institute, 6901 Mercy Rd, Omaha, NE 68106-2604, 402-390-6600, wwwpopepaulvi.com; Couple to Couple League, PO Box 111184 Cincinnati, OH 45211, 800-745-8252, www.ccli.org; One More Soul, 616 Five Oaks Ave, Dayton, OH, 45406, 800-307-7685, www.omsoul.com; The Gift Foundation, PO Box 95, Carpentersville, IL 60110, 847-844-1167, www.giftfoundation.org. Defeat EPICC Proponents' claims not withstanding, EPICC is not about women's health care or equity. It's about foisting a lifestyle that has a hedonistic view of sexuality on everyone, irrespective of their moral and cultural beliefs. Furthermore, EPICC would be a serious attack on families, the right of conscience, and religious liberties. In the title of the Guttmacher article referred to previously, it refers to EPICC as the "Culmination of Contraceptive Insurance Coverage Campaign." Our response as committed Catholics? EPICC must be defeated! Catholics and other allies need to urge their U.S. senators, and representatives to oppose EPICC (S. 104). Dominic Pedulla, MD, FACC, CNFPMC has written an excellent medical briefing in opposition to S. 104.3 Other Action According to Mr. Michael O'Dea, executive director of the Christus Medicus Foundation, a number of other activities can be pursued to uproot the contraceptive culture. For example, employees can ask their employers to protect their rights by making available a defined contribution of cash to purchase their own health care or to offer them a health insurance alternative that doesn't force them to pay for morally objectionable drugs and procedures. Employers (including dioceses) can avoid state and federal mandates by self-insuring under the protection of ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) or by offering employees a defined contribution. The diocese of Lincoln, NE, with the help of O'Dea and Tracy Williams, an insurance plan administrator, has already done this with good success.4 O'Dea also believes that it is essential that states enact "Health Care Right of Conscience" legislation that will protect insurance companies, employers, institutions, individual physicians, employees of health care facilities, and taxpayers from paying, providing arranging, and/or referring for services that are against their moral or religious beliefs. There are numerous attacks against life and love that demand the urgent attention and resources of the pro-life movement and the Church. Taking on the daunting task of reforming health care finance policy and practice is a challenge most of us would rather ignore. But to do so would be to ignore one of the roots of the culture of death that will ultimate sprout more attacks against life and love. Ultimately, success in countering the massive campaign to culturally institutionalize the practice of contraception nationally may hinge on how much risk Catholic individuals, employers and institutions are willing to take and how much ridicule and inconvenience we are willing to endure to shine the light of Truth in this world. 1 The Guttmacher Report on Public Policy, October 2001. |
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