Rochester, N.Y. & Washington D.C. (AP) --- President Barack Obama declared Friday he's found a solution that will protect religious liberty but also ensure that women have access to free birth control, as he rushed to defuse an election-year political uproar that threatened to overtake his administration.
Capping weeks of growing controversy, Obama announced he was backing off a newly announced requirement for religious employers to provide free birth control coverage even if it runs counter to their religious beliefs. Instead, workers at such institutions will be able to get free birth control coverage directly from health insurance companies.
"Religious liberty will be protected and a law that requires free preventative care will not discriminate against women," Obama said in a brief appearance in the White House briefing room.
"I understand some folks in Washington want to treat this as another political wedge issue. But it shouldn't be. I certainly never saw it that way," Obama said. "This is an issue where people of good will on both sides of the debate have been sorting through some very complicated questions."
At its core most have seen this is a clear-cut example of a Church vs. State debate and understandably such Constitutional issues spark a rather heated dialogue as we’ve seen in recent weeks.
At the popular Pizza Stop in Downtown Rochester a few minutes with the lunchtime crowd offers one a wide range of opinions on the matter.
"I don't think that they should be able to force anybody to offer those things," Angel Davila, a Catholic and an employee of Pizza Stop said. “I think it's a good idea for the churches to be able to opt out if necessary."
"The government shouldn't force any agency or entity to impose on someone but access should be there,” Art Pipkins of Henrietta echoed. "Put it out there and if they want to take advantage of it fine, if they don't fine, but don't force it on anyone, period."
One patron argued that a national healthcare plan focused on the individual would negate even the need for such a debate.
“The fact that somebody else should be inserting them self into my, or my wife's, or my daughter's, or anybody's situation about what they should do with their healthcare (is) ridiculous,” Joe Wierzbowski of Rochester said. "People could then individually decide what they want to do with their healthcare options and not have a Catholic Church, a Mormon Church, a Right-wing Republican or a Left-wing Liberal decide what they should do.”
Moreover, if you thought there was only one religious argument to this issue, think again.
"I think if you're an employer in the United State of America, including the Catholic Church or any other religious organization, you should be subjected to the same rules as any other institution in the United States,” Meredith Conner of Rochester said.
When asked if she felt this was indeed a Church vs. State issue Conner replied, “I don't think so, I mean you have an argument that you have freedom of religion but the employee has a right to their health and to their own freedom of religion I mean there's a religious argument on both sides.”
In a statement issued late Friday the Diocese of Rochester said they welcomed the administration’s “decision to respect the rights of religious affiliated organizations, including hospitals and charities, to provide benefits and services in accord with their organizing religious principles.” The Diocese declined further comment until the revised regulations are distributed.
A spokesman for Excellus Blue Cross & Blue Shield stated that the company is “in the process of analyzing how the administration’s proposal would work.”
