Religion News Service’s David Gibson lists five reasons why “Obama is losing the contraception fight.” That’s not true; polls show that even Catholics don’t object to the contraception coverage benefit.
Rather than five reasons why Obama is losing, how about five reasons why Obama shouldn’t even negotiate with the Bishops, because they haven’t been honest negotiating partners with the president.
1. The Bishops have misrepresented their constitutional rights for political purposes.
2. The Bishops have moved the goalpost.
First the Bishops claimed they wanted a broader exemption from the requirement, one that would not only exempt houses of worship, but religious hospitals, colleges, and universities as well. After the Obama administration refused their demand, they changed their position: USCCB general counsel Anthony Picarello tells USA Today:
That means removing the provision from the health care law altogether, he said, not simply changing it for Catholic employers and their insurers. He cited the problem that would create for “good Catholic business people who can’t in good conscience cooperate with this.”
If I quit this job and opened a Taco Bell, I’d be covered by the mandate,’ Picarello said.
3. The Bishops falsely conflate birth control with abortion.
4. The Bishops refuse to ackowledge their own demands infringe on others’ religious conscience and legal rights.
5. The Bishops
