Nevada bishops’ plea heightens controversy over birth control coverage

WASHINGTON — After the Catholic Church in Nevada spoke out over the weekend, an Obama administration decision to require church-affiliated groups to offer birth control coverage became a sudden political issue that has split the state’s delegation in Congress.

Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., joined conservatives in calling for the administration to pull back the new regulation, calling it another flaw in the landmark health care overhaul law.

"The federal government does not have the right to tell religious groups to provide a service that violates their faith," Heller, a Mormon, said in a letter to Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of health and human services.

On the other hand, Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley said she feared that rolling back the rules would limit health care options for women. President Barack Obama should be credited for his handling of the tricky issue, she said.

"I deeply respect the freedom and diversity of religious views in this country and appreciate the administration’s efforts to find the right pathway forward on this important issue," said Berkley, who is Jewish. "However, I am wary of placing restrictions on access to basic women’s health and preventative services."

An outgrowth of the Affordable Care Act, the regulation requires employers to offer birth control among free preventive care covered by their health insurance plans.

A "conscience exemption" excuses churches from having to insure contraception, but not religious-run social service agencies, hospitals and universities that employ people of other faiths.

That set off a firestorm of criticism from Catholic leaders who charged that clinics, soup kitchens and other church-run services would be forced to choose between tenets against birth control and complying with a federal mandate.

In Nevada over the weekend, Catholic priests during Mass read from a letter issued by the bishops of the Reno and Las Vegas dioceses urging parishioners to contact lawmakers and the president.

"To abide by the law would lead us to violate our moral teachings. To ignore the law would place us in violation of this federal regulation and make us subject to fines or other consequences," wrote the Most Rev. Randolph Calvo of Reno and the Most Rev. Joseph A. Pepe of Las Vegas.

Elsewhere in Nevada, the founding dean of the UNLV School of Community Health Sciences thanked Obama in a letter for limiting the religious exemption, saying it would broaden the availability of birth control.

"With this insurance provision under the Affordable Care Act, American women will have equal access to contraception for the first time in history," wrote Mary Guinan, president of the American Medical Women’s Association.

Republican Rep. Mark Amodei, who belongs to a nondenominational Christian church, was among 154 "pro-life" lawmakers who signed a letter Monday to Sebelius demanding details of how the rule was formed.

"The Obama administration is giving them an ultimatum: You can either exchange your beliefs for our political agenda or we will fine you," Amodei said of church-backed institutions. "By putting a ‘substantial burden’ on the free exercise of religious-institutions, the administration is in direct violation of the First Amendment."

Republican Rep. Joe Heck, a Catholic, "is certainly concerned about this issue," according to chief of staff Greg Facchiano, but he said the lawmaker could not be reached Tuesday evening.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., told reporters after the Senate Democrats’ weekly luncheon that he supported the new rule.

"It is not good for Democrats to go head-to-head against any church. We certainly don’t intend to do that. But we had a good discussion in caucus today. The caucus totally supports the president. I do."

Reid, who is Mormon, did not detail his thinking, and his office declined to comment further. However, in a series of speeches Tuesday, Democratic senators said the criticism of the administration’s rule amounted to an attack on women’s health rights.

"The millions of women who work in a Catholic hospital or university, from the overnight nurse to the classroom aide or cafeteria workers, who choose to use birth control should have the same access as their counterparts in other institutions," said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., who is Protestant.

"There are religions that believe divorce is a sin," Shaheen said. "Should these institutions be exempt from labor laws and be allowed to discriminate based on marital status? Of course not, and this is no different."