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The new Pope is hard at work doing the humble thing and trying to stop sex abuse, but that might not be enough to resolve the gap between the views of the Obama administration — and, increasingly, American Catholics — on contraception and the Church's vehement stance against it.
Following a judge's ruling that could make birth control available over the counter with no age restrictions within the month, the Obama administration announced Friday night that it will fight a subpoena from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, which is requesting documents about the Obamacare mandate for its lawsuit against the government. The Archdiocese, along with several other organizations, contend that the mandate violates freedom of religion because it requires that employee health insurance includes contraceptives. The White House, which is represented by the Justice Department, says the Archdiocese's records request is "too burdensome to fulfill" as well as "inappropriate." So, basically, it's way too much work and you shouldn't have asked in the first place.
The Obama administration tried to compromise with anti-contraception groups in February by allowing certain religious organizations to opt out of providing for contraception in their insurance plans. The employees would be given separate coverage through a third party at no additional cost to the organization. But this still wasn't good enough for the Archdiocese, which claims it will face $200 million in penalties every year if it refuses to comply with the mandate.