Obama Offers Compromise on Birth Control Policy

As expected, President Obama today offered what the White House is calling an "accommodation" on a controversial birth-control policy. Religious employers such as the Catholic Church will no longer be required to offer free contraception to workers as part of their health insurance. Instead, that coverage will come directly from health insurance companies, notes the Washington Post. The plan is similar to those in several states, including Hawaii, adds the New York Times. The question now is whether the move will be enough to tamp down the political firestorm.

"Religious liberty will be protected and a law that requires free preventative care will not discriminate against women," said Obama, according to AP. "I understand some folks in Washington want to treat this as another political wedge issue. But it shouldn't be. I certainly never saw it that way. This is an issue where people of good will on both sides of the debate have been sorting through some very complicated questions." (More birth control stories.)