US Senate rejects Republican birth control challenge

 WASHINGTON, March2 2012(Reuters): The Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate on Thursday rejected a Republican challenge to President Barack Obama’s policy requiring health insurance coverage for contraceptives in an election-year vote that broke largely along party lines.Senators voted 51-48 to set aside a measure from Republican Roy Blunt that would have exempted religiously affiliated institutions including Roman Catholic hospitals, universities and charities from a rule requiring free insurance coverage for women’s birth control drugs and devices. Blunt’s amendment aimed to reverse the Obama administration’s policy requiring health insurance coverage for women’s contraceptives and other preventive services without co-pays or deductibles by allowing health plans and employers to opt out for moral or religious reasons. Only one Republican, Maine Senator Olympia Snowe, crossed party lines to vote with Democrats after expressing concern that the measure’s broad language could allow health plans and employers to deny a wide range of healthcare benefits. Three Democrats - Ben Nelson, Joe Manchin and Robert Casey - voted in support of the amendment. In general, Democrats sought to cast themselves as defenders of women’s healthcare before the vote. “Today, the Senate will vote on an extreme ideological amendment,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said at the outset of a two-hour floor debate. “It would allow any employer or insurer to deny coverage for virtually any treatment for virtually any reason.”
Clashes over women’s healthcare rights and social conservative values have escalated into a political firestorm. Republicans are presenting a religious liberty argument that could resonate with Catholics and other social conservatives while Democrats courting favor with female independent voters. The debate has become an incendiary social issue leading up to the Nov. 6 presidential and congressional elections.
The Obama administration policy requires almost all employers who provide health insurance to give coverage for women’s contraceptives, but exempts places of worship including churches, synagogues and mosques. The rule was adopted under to a provision in Obama’s 2010 healthcare reform law. It covers a wide range of preventive services and has been billed by administration officials as a step intended to reduce unwanted pregnancies and related health problems as well as abortions. The rule is opposed by Roman Catholic bishops and social conservatives on moral and religious grounds because it would require birth control coverage for women who work for religiously affiliated institutions including hospitals, universities and charities. In an attempt to quell an election-year uproar, Obama in February announced those employers would not be required to offer free birth control to workers and the onus would instead fall on insurers. The president’s “accommodation” is expected to be formulated into legal language and published as a proposed rule soon.  
Culture wars
America’s culture wars over issues including contraception, abortion and gay marriage have heated up in recent weeks with the battle for the Republican presidential nomination between social conservative Rick Santorum and the more moderate Mitt Romney. The Obama campaign weighed in with the charge that nearly 80 million women who receive coverage through their employers could lose access to preventive services under the Republican amendment. A statement attributed to Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter said the public can thank Romney and Santorum for “helping to pave the way for this anti-contraception agenda.” The statement also referred to Romney’s unclear position on the Blunt amendment. Romney on Wednesday told an interviewer that “I’m not for the bill.” Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul later said he was confused by the way the question was posed and that Romney supports the amendment “because he believes in a conscience exemption in health care for religious institutions and people of faith.” A Kaiser Family Foundation survey of 1,500 adults released on Thursday showed that nearly two-thirds of Americans favor Obama’s policy.