The New York
Times, January 30, 2012
Ruling
on Contraception Draws Battle Lines at Catholic Colleges
By DENISE
GRADY
Bridgette
Dunlap, a Fordham University law student, knew that the school's
health plan had to pay for birth control pills, in keeping with
New York state law. What she did not find out until she was in
an examining room, 'in the paper dress,' was that the student
health service -- in keeping with Roman Catholic tenets -- would
simply refuse to prescribe them.
As a result,
students have had to go to Planned Parenthood or private doctors
to get prescriptions. Some, unable to afford the doctor visits,
gave up birth control pills entirely. In November, Ms. Dunlap,
31, who was raised a Catholic and was educated at parochial schools,
organized a one-day, off-campus clinic staffed by volunteer doctors
who wrote prescriptions for dozens of women.
Many Catholic
colleges decline to prescribe or cover birth control, citing religious
reasons. Now they are under pressure to change. This month the
Obama administration, citing the medical case for birth control,
made a politically charged decision that the new health care law
requires insurance plans at Catholic institutions to cover birth
control without co-payments for employees, and that may be extended
to students. But Catholic organizations are resisting the rule,
saying it would force them to violate their beliefs and finance
behavior that betrays Catholic teachings.
'We can't
just lie down and die and let religious freedom go,' said Sister
Mary Ann Walsh, a spokeswoman for the United States Conference
of Catholic Bishops.
The administration's
rule has now run headlong into a dispute over values as Republican
presidential contenders compete for the most conservative voters.
In an election season that features Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum,
who have stressed their Catholic faith, scientific thinking on
the medical benefits of birth control has clashed with deeply
held religious and cultural beliefs.
The Obama
administration relied on the recommendations of the Institute
of Medicine, an independent group of doctors and researchers that
concluded that birth control is not just a convenience but is
medically necessary 'to ensure women's health and well-being.'
About half
of all pregnancies in the United States are unplanned, and about
4 of 10 of those end in abortion, according to the Institute of
Medicine report, which was released in July. It noted that providing
birth control could lower both pregnancy and abortion rates. It
also cited studies showing that women with unintended pregnancies
are more likely to be depressed and to smoke, drink and delay
or skip prenatal care, potentially harming fetuses and putting
babies at increased risk of being born prematurely and having
low birth weight.
But the Republican
candidates have said that moral and religious values weigh heavily
in birth control issues. Andrea Saul, a spokeswoman for Mitt Romney,
said in an e-mail that he regarded the administration's rule requiring
religious employers to furnish birth control as wrong. 'This is
a direct attack on religious liberty and will not stand in a Romney
presidency,' she said. Mr. Romney has also pledged to end a federal
program, Title X, that provides family planning services to millions
of women.
Mr. Santorum
has taken the position that health insurance plans should not
be required to cover birth control. He also favors allowing states
to decide whether to ban birth control. He and Mr. Gingrich both
support 'personhood' initiatives that would legally declare fertilized
eggs to be persons, effectively banning not just all abortions
but also certain contraceptives, including IUDs and some types
of birth control pills.
Mr. Gingrich
wants to withdraw government money from Planned Parenthood because
it performs abortions in addition to providing contraceptives,
though the federal money cannot be used for abortion.
The Obama
administration has itself not been consistent in following experts'
advice on birth control. In December, it overruled scientists
at the Food and Drug Administration and blocked increased access
to an emergency contraceptive, citing potential risks to young
girls who might use them without parental help. The decision was
widely seen as an effort to avoid the ire of socially conservative
voters and to defuse anger about its pending rule requiring the
provision of birth control in insurance plans of Catholic institutions.
The Catholic
Church considers it morally wrong to prevent conception by any
artificial means, including condoms, IUDs, birth control pills
and sterilization.
Some Catholic
colleges are likely to ask for a yearlong delay in implementing
the rule on birth control coverage, said Michael Galligan-Stierle,
president of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities.
In the longer run, he predicted in a statement that either Congress
or the Supreme Court would invalidate the rule. Belmont Abbey
College, which is Catholic, and the interdenominational Colorado
Christian University have already sued the Department of Health
and Human Services, arguing that the birth control requirement
violates the right to freedom of religion.
Birth control
is considered a 'preventive service' under the new health care
law, but Mr. Galligan-Stierle said such services should be limited
to preventing disease, not pregnancy.
'We do not
happen to think pregnancy is disease,' he said. 'We think it's
a gift of love of two people and our creator.'
Despite Catholic
teachings, surveys have found that 98 percent of sexually active
Catholic women, as in the general population, have used contraceptives.
At Catholic
universities, some students support the right of the schools to
uphold religious doctrine. But others, particularly professional
and graduate students, have found the restrictions on birth control
coverage onerous. Undergraduates are often covered by their parents'
insurance, but graduate students are usually on their own and
are more likely to be married or in relationships and in regular
need of birth control.
At some schools,
students say the rules are so stringent they have a hard time
getting coverage even if they need birth control pills for strictly
medical reasons.
One recent
Georgetown law graduate, who asked not to be identified for reasons
of medical privacy, said she had polycystic ovary syndrome, a
condition for which her doctor prescribed birth control pills.
She is gay and had no other reason to take the pills. Georgetown
does not cover birth control for students, so she made sure her
doctor noted the diagnosis on her prescription. Even so, coverage
was denied several times. She finally gave up and paid out of
pocket, more than $100 a month. After a few months she could no
longer afford the pills. Within months she developed a large ovarian
cyst that had to be removed surgically -- along with her ovary.
'If I want
children, I'll need a fertility specialist because I have only
one working ovary,' she said.
A spokeswoman
for Georgetown, Stacy Kerr, said that problems like this were
rare and that doctors at the health service knew how to help students
get coverage for contraceptives needed for medical reasons.
Asked if Georgetown
would begin covering birth control under the new rule, she said,
'We will be reviewing and evaluating the new regulations, ever
mindful of our Catholic and Jesuit identity and mission.'
Some Georgetown
professors question the wisdom of the university's current policy.
'I wish Catholic institutions would have more open conversation
about how bans on birth control can increase abortion rates among
students,' said Robin L. West, a law school professor. 'Both are
contrary to Catholic teaching, but abortion as I understand it
is the graver of the sins, and certainly the greater injury to
the fetus and the woman.'
The university
declined to comment on her remarks.
A 23-year-old
who asked that her name not be used said she became pregnant while
studying at Fordham. In high school, she said, she had taken birth
control pills, but she gave them up at Fordham because she could
not afford the doctor visit needed for a prescription. She and
her boyfriend were using condoms when she became pregnant. Though
Catholic, she considered abortion, but chose to have the baby.
She said she knew six other Fordham students who had become pregnant
and had abortions.
Senior Catholic
officials said that students at Catholic universities should know
what to expect, and that those who disagree with the policies
can choose to go elsewhere. 'No one would go to a Jewish barbecue
and expect pork chops to be served,' Mr. Galligan-Stierle said.
At Fordham
Law School on Tuesday night, Ms. Dunlap and five other law students
who had worked against the university's birth control policy sat
together at a lecture by Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, who had
personally asked President Obama to exclude Catholic institutions
from the contraception requirement and called the decision against
the church 'unconscionable.'
During his
lecture, Archbishop Dolan criticized people who postponed conception
with 'chemicals and latex,' calling them part of the 'culture
of death.'
Ms. Dunlap
and her colleagues were feeling proud: they had just won a small
victory, persuading Fordham to change its Web site to explain
the birth control policy more clearly. Now, they wrote down questions
on index cards, expecting them to be put to the archbishop after
his speech. One concerned contraception.
The moderator
read through the questions and deemed some of them too 'pointed.'
'If I don't
ask your question,' he said, 'I either apologize or I don't care.'
Ms. Dunlap's
queries did not make the cut. Her frustration nearly brought her
to tears.
'I can't believe
they didn't take our questions,' she said, adding that the moderator
was trying to silence disagreement. 'It dishonors the law school.'
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