From CBS News:
(AP)
August 1, 2011 8:43 AM
The federal Department of Health and Human Services was to announce historic women’s healthcare guidelines Monday that would require insurance companies to cover women’s preventive services, including birth control, for what amounts to no cost.
The guidelines, under the new healthcare law, would force insurance companies to not only cover the costs, but to eliminate co-pays and deductibles, reports CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller.
Birth control has been controversial in the U.S. from the moment Margaret Sanger opened the country’s first family planning clinic in 1916 — and was promptly sent to prison for it.
While many have hailed contraception as the best way to prevent unwanted pregnancies, others argue that abstinence education is the way to go.
In a statement, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops opposes the new guidelines, saying, “Pregnancy is not a disease, and fertility is not a pathological condition to be suppressed by any means technically possible.” (more…)
Filed under: Health Care Law Implementation, In the news | Tagged: Affordable Care Act, Barack Obama, Department of Health and Human Services, Ellen Chesler, Food and Drug Administration, Institute of Medicine, Margaret Sanger, Michelle Miller, Roosevelt Institute, Stephanie Cutter, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops | Leave a Comment »
