WASHINGTON — Minor children on their parents’ health-care plans will have free coverage of sterilization and contraception, including abortion-causing drugs, under the controversial Health and Human Services mandate. And depending on the state, they can obtain access without parental consent.
Matt Bowman, senior counsel for the religious-liberty-focused legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, said the mandate “tramples parental rights” because it requires them to “pay for and sponsor coverage of abortifacients, sterilization, contraception and education in favor of the same for their own children.”
The Department of Health and Human Services ruled in January 2012 that most employers who have 50 or more employees must provide the coverage as “preventive care” for “all women with reproductive capacity.”
The mandate also requires the coverage for beneficiaries, including minors, on the affected health plans, Bowman told Catholic News Agency Sept. 20. That means that a minor on her parents’ plan could be sterilized if she finds a doctor willing to perform the procedure.
“She can be sterilized at no cost,” Bowman stated. “Whether her parents will know and/or consent might differ by state. But the Guttmacher Institute and other abortion advocates explicitly advocated for this mandated coverage of minors so that access without parental involvement might be able to increase.”
The Guttmacher Institute, in a Sept. 1 briefing on state policies, said that an increase in minors’ access to reproductive health care over the last 30 years shows a broader recognition that “while parental involvement in minors’ health-care decisions is desirable, many minors will not avail themselves of important services if they are forced to involve their parents.”
The institute, the former research arm of abortion provider Planned Parenthood, said that 26 states and the District of Columbia allow all minors 12 years and older to consent to contraceptive services. At least one state, Oregon, allows 15-year-olds to consent to sterilization.
CNA repeatedly contacted the Department of Health and Human Services for comment but did not receive a response.
Employers who do not comply with the mandate face fines of $100 per employee per day. Large employers like the University of Notre Dame could face annual fines in the millions.
There are presently 30 lawsuits challenging the HHS mandate in federal court on religious-freedom grounds. The 80 plaintiffs include Catholic dioceses, universities, health-care systems and charities, as well as EWTN, the Register's parent company.
The mandate’s narrow religious exemption would not apply to many Catholic institutions, despite Catholics’ moral and religious objections to the covered procedures and drugs. Several Protestant institutions have also challenged the law, citing objections to abortion-causing drugs.
The Obama administration has said it will accommodate some religious objections, though the details of those arrangements remain unclear.
Bowman rejected the idea that the Obama administration’s proposed accommodations will affect the coverage of minors.
“The accommodation does not even claim it will change this part of the mandate,” he said.
Legislation to allow all employers with religious or moral objections to opt out of the coverage failed in the U.S. Senate earlier this year.
Defenders of the Obama administration have depicted resistance to the mandate as a “war on women.”
At the same time, a grassroots campaign called "The Women Speak for Themselves" has garnered the support of 34,000 women. The group says those backing the mandate are trying to “shout down anyone who disagrees” with them by invoking “women’s health,” while ignoring the negative physical and social effects of contraception for women.
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I can’t believe that they are actually allowing this! Like, hello!? I’m a stupid 17 year old girl who thinks that sterilization would be the ‘easy way out’ so I can do whatever I want without having to worry about being pregnant. What happens when I’m 30 and I want to have kids?! Oh wait, sorry, I can’t cause of some hasty decision I made when I was 17. Oops. Teenagers (trust me, I know) aren’t mature enough to handle these decisions! We can’t even think about next year, much less 10+ years in the future.
Why are you even providing 12 year olds with contraceptives?? They are so dangerous (proven carcinogens people…) and it’s basically a way of saying, “Hey little girl! Go have sex because you can! And your parents don’t even have to know!” I know I’d be furious if I was a mother and some doctor sterlized/gave my baby girl contraceptives without my permission.
This country is screwed.
The Guttmacher Institute says, “While parental involvement in minors’ health-care decisions is desirable, many minors will not avail themselves of important services if they are forced to involve their parents.” Thanks for the heads-up. I guess I’ll just force my kids to involve me in their health care decisions while they still, you know, are children, so they aren’t sold on faulty information that masquerades as medicine. I remember having the Pill almost literally shoved down my throat when I was 17 and I explicitly told the doctor I didn’t want it, but that wasn’t cool with her. Ended up capitulating because I didn’t want to be rude and had no idea how to tell her no without being rude. Kids are kids and even the “good ones” (like I was) can be persuaded to make bad decisions that lead to worse decisions.
You are right Nicole, this country is screwed. But it takes people like you to spread the truth and help take the blinders off people’s eyes. Pray for this country. Novena starts this Saturday. God bless you -
Heaven help us. Mary pray for us. Catholic voters, follow The Way, The Truth, and The Life. (Notice “The Life” part.)
BTW, this elective sterilization of minors is simply coerced eugenics. Truly evil.
Calling it like I see it—- HHS Mandate - increased bureaucratic suppression of moral decision making and undermining of parent right’s and the family … On July 11, 2002, I testified before Congress on ‘ Parent’s Right to Know Act”, concerning the overreach of current law that tramples on parent’s rights when their minor child seeks care at a federally funded public health center. Currently federal health insurance programs (such as Medicaid, SCHIP, Title X, and other government health care programs) that rou¬tinely govern the health care of minors in ever larger numbers, restrict parents the right to know which medical services their child receives when the services include birth control, psychiatric counseling, or substance-abuse therapy without the minor child’s permission. In doing so, government offi¬cials pre-empt or interfere with important deci¬sions that should be made with parents and medical provider. 2012 - now comes the HHS mandate that further undermines families and suppresses moral decision making and personal beliefs…
I’m afraid there’s too many people who are so far gone that, barring a miracle, cannot be recovered. Just look at the latest poles. People are willing to re-elect the president even with all of this. The cluelessness is at an all time high and will only get worse. God help us all.
Obama and all those in Washington need to realize that life is precious. Obviously, they haven’t. But at the least, can they realize that THE REASON THIS COUNTRY WAS ESTABLISHED WAS FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM?!?! Ignoring the foundation of this country is just a start to our country sinking into a hole…….Can’t wait to proclaim this in my freshmen debate class……Thank God for a Catholic high school that lets you express your opinions…..Unlike our country where every time you stand up for what is right, you get shot down by those who don’t see the light……..and my gosh 12 year olds?! Well that reflects what our country is getting into…….We might as well forget chastity for that matter…
GOD have mercy on us!! Like the rest of you, I am appalled!! This cannot be! No one who voted for this mandate should be reelected. Like JD, I’m afraid there are too many people who are so far gone, that barring a miracle, our country cannot recover! However, I am still praying for that miracle!!! My Lord and my GOD, help us!
OK—so your daughter takes an Advil for her cramps and she gets suspended for “drug use” because she didn’t have parental permission for the school nurse to give her that Advil. But, if she wants a surgical procedure that will affect her life and that of a child she may be carrying, it’s OK. NO IT IS NOT OK!!!! Mary, Mother of God, please help those of us who are fighting to protect all of God’s children defeat the evil that has overtaken this country
You hit the nail on the head Stephanie. In NY City they care so much about your health they’ll limit the size of the soda you buy at McDonalds. But, it’s just dandy to pump artificial hormones into your children without you knowing. After all, it’s their “right”. The odd thing is that when you try to reason with these people, they look at you like you have three eye balls. It rapidly turns into an exercise of pure frustration. These people’s consciences have not been properly formed and it is highly unlikey that they will straighten out without divine intervention. Mary, pray for us.
Thanks JD. Another thought—while your daughter is having the abortion or sterilization, she’s getting other drugs pumped into her WITHOUT THE DOCTORS/NURSES KNOWING HER MEDICAL HISTORY! They won’t know what kind of reactions to meds she’s had, etc. Do they really think that a young teen girl is going to be forthright on her intake sheets? Unstinkin’ believable. Yet, take an Advil, get suspended! We must pray, pray, pray.
Stephanie, here’s something else to think about. They give your daughter birth control pills so now she has to take one every day. Teenage girls can’t remember to clean their rooms, so how could anyone think they’d remember to take a pill? Of course, when they ultimately screw up, there’s always the option of abortion. And, in many states, including several in the Northeast, you don’t need a parent’s permission to have an abortion. Ear piercing - yes. Advil - yes. Abortion - the school nurse can take your daughter to Planned Parenthood and you do not need to know. We have become like the unfaithful Israel in the Old testament and nothing good can become of this. God help us. Mary pray for us.
There is a great book about this called The Harbinger. The Isaiah 9:10 effect. Compares our culture to ancient Israell. May GOD have mercy on us. Mary pray for us.
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