Obama backs down in health insurance contraception row

What a White House aide called Mr Obama’s “accommodation” came
following more than a week of mounting pressure. After dozens of Catholic
bishops sharply condemned the new rule in sermons across the US, Republican
leaders vowed to place the row at the heart of the campaign for November’s
elections.

It had threatened to severely damage Mr Obama’s support among Catholic voters,
a group he won by 54 per cent to 45 per cent over his Republican rival John
McCain in 2008. Aides claimed yesterday that he had always been anxious to
avoid upsetting religious activists.

“This is very personal to the president,” a White House official
said. “He understands deeply how important it is the work the
faith-based organisations do. He’s always been committed to both preserving
religious liberty and protecting women’s health.” Mr Santorum, a former
Pennsylvania senator, yesterday attacked Mr Obama for forcing Catholics to
fund things that were “against their basic tenets”. The
evangelical favourite, who is again surging into the lead of national
opinion polls in the contest to become Mr Obama’s challenger in November,
declared: “Obamacare is a game-changer for America”.

“But this is not about contraception,” Mr Santorum told CPAC, the
annual gathering of conservatives in Washington. “It is about
government control of your lives – and it has got to stop”.

He passed on a warning from Lady Thatcher to President Ronald Reagan on why
she was unable to achieve more as prime minister. “The reason was the
British National Health Service,” Mr Santorum said. “Once people
have that dependency they are never really free again”.

In a swipe at Mitt Romney, the relatively moderate front-runner for the
nomination, Mr Santorum promised activists: “We will not abandon the
principles that made this country great for a hollow victory in November.”

Ann Coulter, the Right-wing author, received a standing ovation and the
morning’s most enthusiastic applause for her remarks on Mr Obama’s
contraception policy: “This is not a Catholic issue. It is a freedom
issue,” she said. “What they are doing is using insurance for
Communism”.

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