Our local U.S. Rep. praises the Bishops; compare and contrast Scalise remarks to those of Nancy Pelosi at end of article

Rep. Steve Scalise praises Catholic bishops for fight against contraceptive mandate

Published: Sunday, February 19, 2012, 9:00 PM

By Times-Picayune Staff The Times-Picayune

As the House prepared to take a week-long recess late last week, it was apparent the flap over President Barack Obama's compromise plan to require health insurance firms to provide free access to contraceptives isn't going away. There was a tumultuous hearing by a House committee, in which a Roman Catholic bishop, Orthodox rabbi and Lutheran and Baptist clergy said the president's plan, though an improvement over his original proposal, doesn't give religious employers a "conscience" clause freeing them from providing coverage for birth control devices they object to on religious grounds.

View full sizeDavid Grunfeld, The Times-Picayune archiveRep. Steve Scalise was photographed in Madisonville in October.

 

Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, who is leading an effort for congressional intervention, praised the Catholic bishops for leading a fight against the administration rule. "I want to applaud the Catholic bishops who have been so vocal in helping bring this issue to light, for standing up and saying, 'This is something that we will not comply with because it violates our own religious beliefs.'"
Some House Democrats complained that the GOP-scheduled hearing on the issue excluded some women who believe that birth control services should be a mandated part of health insurance. "What is it that men don't understand about women's health," House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said. "And how central the issue of family planning is to that."