Once again, Obama is offering his feminist touch. On Friday, President Obama championed women's health rights by issuing a compromise that will provide women with free birth control.
The compromise, which is part of the Affordable Care Act, states that employers will have to provide their female employees with birth control — unless they are a religious organization. The employees of these organizations will still receive free birth control, but it will instead come from insurance companies that will be required to provide it.
The compromise is meant to accommodate religious opponents to the original mandate, which stated that only churches and places of worship would be exempt from providing contraceptives. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, who had previously called the health care plan an attack on religious freedom, eased on Friday saying, "[USCCB] sees initial opportunities in preserving the principle of religious freedom after President Obama's announcement today, but the Conference continues to express concerns."
Women's advocacy groups seem to be generally pleased with the compromise. Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, praised the decision saying, "Today's announcement makes it clear that President Obama is firmly committed to protecting women's health."
This isn't the first time Obama has shown his feminist side. During his first week in office he overturned the Global Gag Rule that wouldn't allow the government to provide funding to family planning organizations that supported abortion. Since then, he has also voiced his support for "women's issues" saying they "are not just women's issues, they are family issues and economic issues."
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Obama has voiced his support for "women's issues" saying they "are not just women's issues, they are family issues and economic issues."
