Ginning Up ‘War’ on the Catholic Church

consortiumnews.com — It is sometimes breathtaking to watch the right-wing media/political machine turn a relatively minor dispute into a “war” — as is now happening over a provision of the health-care law that requires some church-run institutions like hospitals and universities to include contraception coverage in plans offered to female employees. America’s conservative Catholic bishops are up in arms. In the words of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, this is a case of President Barack Obama declaring “war on the Catholic Church.” To former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the requirement is an assault on the First Amendment and its guarantee of religious freedom. This hyperbole has now been picked up by the cable news channels and talk radio, but there has been remarkably little written about the actual merits of these arguments — and what the role of the government should be when rights clash. Of course, this argument is as old — indeed older — than the Republic.

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