The Obama compromise is in the NYT - women get free contraceptives
I guess Kerry gave the Obama administration more credit than I did (or than anyone else did here). Every condition in Kerry's statement is met. This is a win for everyone. The new plan is better than old in that it covers EVERY woman, even those directly working for the church
[div class ="excerpt"]
Today, President Obama announced that his Administration will implement a policy that accommodates religious liberty while protecting the health of women. Today, nearly 99 percent of all women have used contraception at some point in their lives, but more than half of all women between the ages of 18-34 struggle to afford it.
Under the new policy announced today, women will have free preventive care that includes contraceptive services no matter where she works. The policy also ensures that if a woman works for religious employers with objections to providing contraceptive services as part of its health plan, the religious employer will not be required to provide contraception coverage but her insurance company will be required to offer contraceptive care free of charge.
The new policy ensures women can get contraception without paying a co-pay and addresses important concerns raised by religious groups by ensuring that objecting religious employers will not have to provide contraceptive coverage or refer women to organizations that provide contraception. Background on this policy is included below:
<snip>
Covering contraception saves money for insurance companies by keeping women healthy and preventing spending on other health services. For example, there was no increase in premiums when contraception was added to the Federal Employees Health Benefit System and required of non-religious employers in Hawaii. One study found that covering contraception lowered premiums by 10 percent or more.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2012/02/10/us/politics/10reuters-usa-contraceptives-factsheet.html?ref=reuters
Now look back at what Kerry actually said:
In a statement, Kerry said, "I think the Administration is working towards a final rule that reflects a reasonable compromise. I think there's a way to protect everybody's interest here. I think you can implement it effectively in a way that protects women's access, but at the same time protects people's religious beliefs, and that should be everyone’s goal.""
II don't think it will make everybody happy - after all this will make Santorum and many others pretty sad.
= new reply since forum marked as read
I'm pretty pleased with this result--and so apparently is Planned Parenthood 
If anything, this feels more like the originally desired Single Payer plan, though I bet the Right will cry "socialism!" even more now, Santorum most likely especially. Oh well, let them! It will hurt them politically in the long run, imo.
In retrospect, while I obviously cannot speak for the Senator, I'd be willing to bet this or something like it is most likely what he was getting at with his original statements about this. I think if he had mentioned something a bit more specific like this, there wouldn't have been quite as much upset though to be fair, he probably couldn't have known what was or was not specifically being put on the table in regards to this "compromise" as he was not in the "Secret Meetings" at the WH with the clergy members, etc. And it really wasn't "on him" to take a concrete position as this wasn't up to the Senate at that point (and still isn't, at least not thus far), though more specifics I think would've helped the perception of his statements...but hey, can't agree on or have everything all the time I guess! I am glad however that this "compromise"--while I still support and had no problem with the original provision--is much more Kerry than Santorum!
I am also so proud of the President and his bold, steadfast statement today! He's the big winner in this situation, imo.
