[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 1145]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    BIRTH CONTROL INSURANCE COVERAGE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Wisconsin (Ms. Moore) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I'm here today to be a voice for the millions 
of women and men who are celebrating the recent decision by the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services regarding requiring all 
businesses and corporations to provide birth control insurance 
coverage, a lifesaving benefit for women, millions of women. Under this 
new rule, virtually all women would have access to birth control 
coverage without a copay through their employer health plan.
  If you listen to the political pundits in this town, you will come to 
the conclusion that people do not support the Obama administration's 
decision and that people of faith are en route to the White House 
prepared to storm it because of this decision. But if you talk to the 
average American, you will realize that there is absolutely 
overwhelming support for the decision on the birth control benefit. 
This support crosses party lines as well as religious affiliation. In 
fact, a poll released just yesterday found that roughly 6 out of 10 
Catholics support requiring employers to provide their employees with 
health care plans that cover contraceptives.
  Let's be clear. This decision represents a respectful balance between 
religious persons and institutions and individual freedom. It is very 
important to clarify that the law contains an exemption for religious 
institutions. What that means is that approximately 335,000 churches or 
houses of worship can choose not to provide birth control coverage for 
their employees. So if you're the secretary at the church or if you are 
employed by the archdiocese, they do not have to provide birth control 
coverage for their employees. It was very important for Health and 
Human Services to carve out this exception with respect to separating 
church and State concerns.

                              {time}  1110

  We are not requiring that Catholic churches go out and buy 
contraceptive coverage for all--in spite of what you have heard over 
TV. But this rule does require that religiously affiliated universities 
and hospitals--which are operating as large businesses and employ and 
serve a diverse array of people--would have to follow the same rules as 
other businesses. This is the part that keeps getting lost in the 
debate: the sole purpose of these institutions is not to offer people a 
place of refuge and worship. It is not a place for people of faith to 
go to gather in fellowship and worship. The purpose of these 
institutions is to provide health care, is to provide an education, 
football teams for their clients or for their students.
  No one is trying to take away religious freedom but, rather, this 
ruling preserves personal freedom. The concept of separation of church 
and state protects these 335,000 places of worship. But the concept of 
separation of church and state does not mean that a church can use 
their bully pulpit to separate millions of women from critical health 
care benefits. Just imagine that women, on average, spend 30 years 
attempting to prevent pregnancy. Just think about what it means for the 
health of a woman, the health of her family to give birth or die trying 
for 30 years.
  I understand that some people are worried and protective of their 
religious freedom in part because they're being misled by what this HHS 
ruling actually does; but I also worry that some people in the faith 
community are being exploited and used to create a diversion.
  Another fact that people keep ignoring is that many religiously 
affiliated hospitals and universities already provide birth control to 
their employees through their insurance packages. I mean, it's standard 
at many of these workplaces. This is a nonissue for many Catholic and 
religiously affiliated colleges and universities already. And we're not 
talking about just a few workers. We're talking about millions of 
secretaries, janitorial staff, nurses aides, and lab techs of many 
different beliefs--some of no beliefs. So I would hope that we would 
not try to use religious bullying to deprive millions of women of 
critical, vital health care.

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