UNDATED (WTVB) - An ongoing national debate over a federal rule change that would force religious organizations to carry insurance coverage they may morally object to is about to become a Michigan fight.
Attorney General Bill Schuette announced Thursday that Michigan will be the lead state in an effort to defeat the rule change, saying "We cannot compromise religious liberty." According to Schuette, the mandate is an unconscionable intrusion on religious liberty and undermines the constitutional rights of millions of Americans with deeply held beliefs.
Under the rule change put forward by U.S. Health and Human Services (DHHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, certain church-run operations such as hospitals, teaching institutions and other "non house of worship entities" must begin by August of this year to provide workers with contraception benefits without requiring a co-pay.
The Obama administration argues that the rules in no way obligate the use of contraceptive devices nor does it require medical care providers to prescribe contraceptives.
In an op-ed recently published in the Detroit Free Press, Michigan Catholic Conference President Paul Long said the proposed rule has united Catholics in their opposition. Shelli Weisberg of the ACLU in Michigan said while the group commends Schuette for his "vigorous defense of the First Amendment," his characterization of the rule change is "overbroad."
