Shot like a flower in the dance

http://news.yahoo.com/catholic-university-ohio-ends-birth-control-coverage-224955996.html

(Reuters) - Xavier University, one of the oldest Roman Catholic colleges in the United States, will cut off birth-control coverage for its employees in July, a move that has divided faculty members and students on the Cincinnati campus.
The abrupt cancellation of insurance benefits at the Jesuit university in Ohio comes amid a furious dispute between the Obama administration and the nation’s Catholic bishops over contraception.
The administration has mandated that nearly all health insurance plans provide free birth control by this summer, with limited accommodations for religious institutions that oppose contraception on moral grounds. Top Catholic bishops have blasted that mandate as an attack on religious freedom.
President Barack Obama’s allies, in turn, have accused the church of obstructing an important benefit for women.
The controversy prompted Xavier President Michael Graham, a Jesuit priest, to review the health insurance plan offered to the university’s 935 employees. Graham announced this week in a letter to the faculty that the plan will cease to cover contraception on July 1.
Some faculty members who relied on the coverage said they were surprised and upset at the sudden end to benefits, which could raise their out-of-pocket costs for contraception by hundreds of dollars a year.
“It hadn’t occurred to me that this would ever be an issue,” said Tina Davlin-Pater, an associate professor in the department of sports studies.
Davlin-Pater, an athletic trainer who is not Catholic, said she viewed the denial of birth control coverage as an indication that “it’s still OK to discriminate against women in today’s world.”
Student Facebook pages crackled with similar comments on Tuesday as word of the decision circulated. Amid the anger, a few on campus stood up to back the university administration.
‘NEVER SHOULD HAVE BEN THERE’
“That coverage never should have been there in the first place,” said Meghan Savercool, a junior majoring in theology. She called the move a crucial means of “upholding the Jesuit Catholic identity of the university.”
The contraception mandate that sparked the Xavier move is part of a broad push by the Obama administration to provide free access for Americans to a variety of preventive services, from mammograms to childhood vaccinations to birth control.
The Catholic church considers artificial contraception a sin - and does not view pregnancy as an ill to be prevented - and the bishops have protested the inclusion of contraception as a mandatory benefit.
Surveys have shown that an overwhelming majority of Catholic women of reproductive age have used contraception at some point, despite the church’s teaching.
The birth-control mandate is tied to Obama’s broader 2010 healthcare law now under review by the U.S. Supreme Court.
If the court strikes down the law, the mandate would likely evaporate. If the law is upheld, nearly all plans would have to cover contraception by August 1. Religious institutions will have an extra year to comply, though several have filed suit to try to block the provision from ever taking effect.
The controversy has jolted some Catholic college presidents into scrutinizing the health insurance plans offered to their employees, hunting for potential conflicts with church doctrine.
“Many times, contraception was covered and the organization didn’t even know it,” said Michael O’Dea, executive director of the Christus Medicus Foundation, which promotes Christian healthcare.
It is not clear whether Xavier officials knew contraception was covered in their plan. A spokeswoman said the university’s administration would not comment.
Some on campus said they suspected Graham had come under intense pressure from the diocese, and perhaps from conservative donors as well, to publicly demonstrate Xavier’s fidelity to Catholic doctrine by cancelling the birth-control coverage.
“How it was handled … (made it) seem more political, like they were trying to make a statement, rather than it being in the interest of their employees,” said Jimmy Geiser, a junior majoring in philosophy.
Though she would not speculate as to why the university president made his decision, Dorothy Engle, chairwoman of the biology department, said she and many colleagues found the timing suspect.
“It seems unusual to change the healthcare plan in the middle of the year,” rather than wait until the open enrollment period when employees could sign on to a spouse’s plan or look for other coverage, Engle said.
Xavier, which was founded in 1831 and serves 7,000 students, has a strong academic reputation. Engle, who has been a faculty member for more than 20 years, said the university has also been known for its “ecumenical” feel, welcoming students and faculty of all religions and encouraging lively discussions about faith.
“It’s always been very open,” she said. “That’s why it’s a surprise that health insurance benefits would become an issue.”
Some Catholic education experts said they hoped other colleges would follow Xavier’s lead. “This is a very positive move,” said Patrick Reilly, president of the Cardinal Newman Society, which pushes Catholic colleges to stay true to the church’s teachings.
The contraception debate, Reilly said, “has certainly made Catholic colleges more aware, both of what their own (insurance) policies are, and of what the church expects of them.”
Several other prominent Catholic universities in the U.S., including Georgetown, DePaul and Fordham, offer contraceptive coverage as part of employee insurance plans. A spokesman for Fordham said the university was not re-evaluating its coverage. Spokeswomen for Georgetown and DePaul did not return calls.
(Reporting by Stephanie Simon in Denver; Editing by Will Dunham)


Summary

This article describes Xavier University’s decision to cut off their employee’s birth control coverage come July. As one of the oldest Roman Catholic colleges in the nation, there is much opposition among the faculty to the use of contraceptive devices, on the grounds of traditional Catholic belief. It has been announced that by summer, nearly all health insurance plans in the nation will cover birth control (rarely making exceptions on religious foundations), an act which is considered to be an attack on religious freedom by many Catholic bishops. Though artificial contraception is considered a sin to many Catholics, many of the college’s employees are upset by and opposed to this act. Surveys have shown that a great number of Catholic women of reproductive ages have used artificial contraceptives, despite the Church’s teachings. One woman states, the cutting of that particular part of health care indicates “it’s still OK to discriminate against women in today’s world.” Others disagree and stand by the university’s decision. As another woman points out, “That coverage never should have been there in the first place.” Regardless of the divisions between communities, faculty, and students brought on by this act, many Catholic education officials see this as a positive step, one which should be carried out within all religious educational institutions.


Analogy

This article illustrates a common conflict regarding religious institutions in the U.S. by providing an instance in which the divisions between “church” and “state” are heavily drawn. Church and state, though not exactly unrelated in this context (Xaviar University is a Roman Catholic college), there is a clash of interests between the two. The president of this school, in cutting off his faculty’s rights to free contraceptives included in the new health care reform, does so because he believes it to be a religious right, and probably a moral obligation as well. The Obama administration’s health care plan, which makes few exceptions to religious functions, is considered to be, by many Catholic bishops, an attack on the Catholic religion. Catholicism as a whole maintains the belief that artificial contraceptives are a sin; however, at the same time a very high percentage of women of reproductive age belonging to the Catholic faith say they have used some form of it. In fact, many of the employees at Xaviar University are upset and regretful that they will still have to shell out hundreds of dollars for contraceptives, despite a nationwide law that states they mustn’t do so. Are these particular women simply unfaithful and aimless followers of Catholicism? One might ask this when observing the seemingly contradictory desire for free contraceptives when employed at a university which is generally espoused in a moral rejection to them. What is evident here is a division between the fundamental basis of Catholicism, and a more lenient form of devotion which still allows for individualized freedoms (such as the freedom to control your own reproduction). One thing that must be noted, is the power and influence of men, such as the president of Xaviar University, a Jesuit priest, as well as the bishops who have protested the health care coverage. Due to their achieved level of religious and political power, it is they who can decide what is, and what is not acceptable in the Catholic church. It is they who can decide that artificial contraception is a sin, despite the fact they will never face a personal chance of pregnancy. When reading this article, one must look at themselves and evaluate their own life choices versus their faith or religious affiliations. Even the most sacred of followers may think of instances which have contradicted their fundamental religious beliefs. It will still be argued that in an institutionalized place such as a university, the general concepts of morality to that particular religion, must be firmly implemented. Many supporters of the school’s decision say, that type of coverage shouldn’t have been there in the first place. There are many others who, opposed or not to this cut, note elements of political competition, and speculate on why the school would choose to cut a plan so abruptly in the middle of the year. Not surprisingly, experts on Catholic education see this cut to be beneficial and necessary to the sanctity of the school, and want other Catholic universities to follow Xaviar’s example. Essentially, this article details a very complex issue which to many people brings up the question of what religious freedom means, as well as what it means to be free and religious.