Recently there have been discussions, outrage and condemnation over the government’s mandate that Catholic religious employers include contraceptive coverage in their health insurance. It is noteworthy that including this coverage would increase the cost of insurance so there is a need to determine if it will be utilized enough to justify its cost. It is also believed that more than 90% of Catholic women use contraceptives. What is your position on this subject?

Here is mine. Realizing that including this coverage will increase the cost of insurance, it is also necessary to treat it no different than any other health issue. While the Catholic Church may see contraceptives as against their religious tenets, that obviously are not able to influence their women to refrain from using them. Therefore they should treat it as a health issue and not as a religious one. However, given the cost ramifications, they should ascertain how widespread it would be utilized if offered. They should employ an independent party to conduct a survey of only Catholic women to gauge its popularity and if it is as believed to be in the 90% range, they should offer it to their employees since their employees should not be discriminated against when it comes to health coverage.