Deadline Extended for Faith Groups on Birth-Control Rule
January 23, 2012 | Read Time: 1 minute
The Obama administration said Friday that religious nonprofits must comply with a provision of the president’s health-care overhaul requiring them to cover contraception for women employees, but it gave the groups an extra year to do so, Reuters reports.
The rule, which raised hackles among Catholic hospitals when the Department of Health and Human Services announced it in August, will require many faith organizations, including hospitals and universities, to cover a broad range of birth-control services from Aug. 1, 2013, one year after it goes into general effect.
The provision does not apply to houses of worship and some religious primary and secondary schools. The Roman Catholic Church had sought a broader exemption for faith-affiliated nonprofit organizations.
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the proposal “strikes the appropriate balance between respecting religious freedom and increasing access to important preventive services.”
