White House didn't foresee birth control backlash

[dipsydoodle]

As President Barack Obama considered a decision on birth control that would turn into an unexpected political nightmare, he heard it from inside and outside his White House: He risked a fierce backlash if he required religious employers to provide insurance coverage for contraception in violation of their beliefs.

Over the course of months, Catholic groups and officials spoke with White House aides, sent letters and wrote opinion columns. Vice President Joe Biden and Obama's then-chief of staff, Bill Daley, both Catholics, and other top administration officials spoke of the need to be aware of the consequences, given how Catholic groups would view the decision and how it would affect them.

But the president was hearing from the other side, too. Women's health advocates and their allies inside the White House were adamant about the importance of making free contraception available to all women; to them, it was a matter of health and fairness. Democratic senators and senior advisers joined in.

In the end, that's where Obama came down.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_BIRTH_CONTROL_POLITICAL_BACKLASH?SITE=TXHOU&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[russspeakeasy]

1. This administration has a habit of stepping on

its own johnson.

[WingDinger]

4. Or a pres that really believes in what he does.

[unblock]

2. the first sentence contradicts the headline.

the article complains that the white house should have started with the compromise they wound up with, but that's just silly.

the compromise is by its nature the sort of thing you do do accommodate someone's objection, it's just not the sort of thing that is done before someone objects. moreover, had they led with the compromise, they would have objected anyway. sometimes people have to vent.

[FrenchieCat]

3. You are quite insightful on what compromise means. Wish others were as much......

[unblock]

6. middle of three boys. comes with the territory!

[killbotfactory]

5. The public is overwhelmingly in favor of birth control coverage.

And as the article states, they knew damn well the religious groups would object, and always had the second compromise option to fall back on.

The Obama administration did the right thing, which is extremely popular with the public, and did it in a way that took the wind out of the sails of the religious objectors.