I wonder if the Catholic Bishops would have a different position if there were ANY WOMEN AMONG THEM?

[Bill USA]

I suppose the bishops would say I'm engaging in HERETICAL talk but, I don't think men have a natural advantage over women when it comes to moral sensibilities. The Catholic Health Association applauded Obama's offered compromise on insurers providing birth control for their policy holders ( http://articles.boston.com/2012-02-12/news/31052605_1_catholic-bishops-religious-freedoms-catholic-health-association ). Meanwhile of course, Republicans relishing having another avenue of attack on Obama (feeling their prayers had been answered) rushed to microphones shouting self-righteous rhetoric attacking the President.

Catholic bishops cry wolf on contraception http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/sns-201202131100--tms--bpresstt--m-b20120213feb13,0,5224040.column

Judging from the cries of outrage coming from the Catholic hierarchy, you'd think President Obama had shut down Catholic churches, defrocked all priests, sent nuns back to Ireland, and dropped an atomic bomb on the Vatican. On every cable news or talk radio show, Obama's accused of trampling on the First Amendment, declaring war on religion, destroying religious freedom and, of course, Catholic-bashing.

Nonsense. Here's the truth. On January 20, the Health and Human Services Agency, under Secretary Kathleen Sibelius, issued a new rule that insurance policies, as part of their basic package, must offer contraceptive services with no deductible or co-pay. An exception was made for 335,000 churches, missions, or other places of worship where all employees were Catholic or members of any religion which opposed contraception as a matter of faith.

Note: The new ruling does not require Catholic hospitals or clinics to provide birth control pills or devices. It does not force Catholics to practice contraception. It does not interfere with anyone's religion. It does not prevent priests and bishops from continuing their appalling medieval and widely ignored attempts to convince Catholics that contraception is sinful. It simply says that there can no longer be two kinds of health insurance policies: those that cover contraception and those that don't. All women deserve access to the same health protection. It's up to the individual woman to decide whether to practice contraception or not.

~~
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Listening to the bishops squeal, you'd also never know that, long before the Obama administration acted, 28 states -- including Mitt Romney's home state of Massachusetts and Newt Gingrich's home state of Georgia -- had already adopted regulations requiring contraception coverage without co-pay. Eight of those states, by the way, don't even provide an opt-out provision for churches. And you'd certainly never know that many leading Catholic universities -- including DePaul University, America's largest Catholic university -- include a prescription contraceptive benefit as part of their basic health insurance for all employees.
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[Warpy]

1. "Cries of outrage coming from the Catholic hierarchy"

Those old boys need to listen to the cries of outrage coming from rank and file Catholics or they're likely to be on the unemployment line.

[customerserviceguy]

2. I don't hear those cries

Where do you? I see the Catholic laity falling in line, paying lip service even though they do something behind the bishop's back. Keeps that nice glowing guilt feeling going, the one you used to appreciate from way back when, when you discovered that something as innocent as masturbation was sin.

[Warpy]

3. How many do you know?

I was brought up Catholic even though it didn't take and I live in a heavily Catholic part of the country and I don't know anyone who backs the bishops.

Of course, most of my friends are women, and that likely makes a difference. It's easier to give lip service to those old bastards if you're a man.

[customerserviceguy]

4. I'll admit

I don't hang around too much of my Catholic family, besides my folks. Even my sister gave it up quietly. I do work with a bunch of cafeteria Catholics in NJ, and none of them have expressed any outrage to me, even though they know I'm politically savvy.

In the end, most Catholics will go along with what their bishops say, that church has spent millenia getting to know how to put hooks in people's heads.

[Warpy]

6. Not on this issue

Consider the huge majority of Catholic women who freely admit to being in full rebellion and using birth control that the Vatican has banned.

This is a loser issue for them. I'm afraid the collection plates are going to get considerably lighter even if the crowd doesn't thin that much.

[customerserviceguy]

7. Full rebellion

would consist of them leaving the church. Catholics are expert at paying lip service to the clerics who run their church, even though individual Catholics do their own thing. I was a mental prisoner of their tactics a quarter of a century ago, I know what happens when Catholics get manipulated by their clergy.

I'd love to see those collection plates get lighter, but if the pedophile scandal didn't scare existing Catholics away, this sure as hell isn't going to cause a ripple in their consciences.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

5. Penis equals wisdom. That's Christianity in a nutshell.

Simple.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

8. Actually, if any of them were MARRIED

Note that Protestants have married clergy and had no objections to birth control before they had women clergy.