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Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Boehner says Congress will overturn Obama’s new birth control policy
By Jack Torry Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — House Speaker John Boehner vowed Wednesday that Congress would reverse the Obama administration’s new rule requiring religious affiliated hospitals and schools to offer contraceptives in their insurance plans to their employees.
In a brief speech on the House floor, Boehner, R-West Chester Twp., assailed the new rule as “an unambiguous attack on religious freedom in our country,’’ and insisted that it “will not stand.’’
Boehner, a Catholic who attended Moeller High School in Cincinnati, charged that the Obama administration “has drifted dangerously beyond its constitutional boundaries, encroaching on religious freedom in a manner that affects millions of Americans and harms some of our nation’s most vital institutions.’’
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who also is from Cincinnati, announced last month that under the new health care law championed by President Barack Obama, all Catholic hospitals and schools, like any other employer, must pay for plans that provide for contraceptives, such as the birth control pill and the Plan B morning after pill.
Although the Catholic church itself is exempt, Catholic affiliated hospitals and universities would face federal fines if they did not follow the new rule.
Dayton-area Catholic institutions are hesitant to comment on the controversy. “We’re in a wait-and-see situation but remain hopeful there will be a resolution of this issue,” said Teri Rizvi, University of Dayton spokesperson.
The rule has prompted an uproar among Catholic officials, who argue that the church opposes the use of contraceptives. Catholics are a major voting bloc in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan - three states key to Obama’s re-election hopes. There are nearly half a million Catholics in southwest Ohio, according to the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said Wednesday that the White House wants “to work with all these organizations to implement this policy in a way that is as sensitive to their concerns as possible. But let’s be clear. We are committed - the president is committed - to ensuring that women have access to contraception without paying any extra costs no matter where they work.’’
Boehner said the House Energy and Commerce Committee would consider a bill that would deal with “this flawed rule.’’ Although the Republicans can probably push a bill through the full House, it would face staunch opposition from the Democratic-controlled Senate.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, 28 states have laws requiring insurers offering prescription drug coverage to provide contraceptive drugs or devices. But of those, 15 have fairly broad exemptions for religious affiliated schools and charities and eight of those permit some hospitals to refuse coverage.
Ohio is among the states that do not require contraceptive coverage. Staff Writer Mary McCarty contributed to this report.
TweetDayton Tea Party president steps down
By Jeremy P. Kelley Staff Writer
Rob Scott stepped down as president of the Dayton Tea Party last weekend and said he is definitely considering a run for chairman of the Montgomery County Republican Party.
Scott, a 29-year-old attorney who was elected to Kettering City Council in November, said he plans to stay involved in the Dayton Tea Party chapter, which he founded three years ago.
“I want to work toward getting more conservatives elected,” Scott said Wednesday. “If being county chairman is the best way to unelect Barack Obama and (Sen.) Sherrod Brown, then I will do it.” Scott said he was asked to serve as county chairman by several local elected officials, business leaders and grass-roots Republican officers.
Montgomery County Republican Party chairman Greg Gantt, who has held that post for five years, said Wednesday that he is leaning against running again in April when the party reorganizes.
Gantt said he’s been more involved lately in Columbus, with the offices of Gov. John Kasich and state Auditor Dave Yost, among others. Gantt said he’ll make his final decision on whether to run for county chairman within a few weeks, as the March 6 primary approaches.
Gantt said he doesn’t think the county Republican Party has changed dramatically since the Tea Party came to life three years ago, and said he hasn’t worked closely with Scott.
“They’ve kind of done their own thing,” Gantt said. “I was an officer in the party for 20 years before I became chair, but that’s not a requirement. There may be a couple other people who may consider (a run for chairman).”
Gantt wouldn’t name any potential candidates. The county chairman is elected by the party’s central committee members.
Gantt said one change he has seen in the party in recent years has to do with strict ideology.
“Part of my frustration is that some Republican is on TV and makes a statement, and either the Tea Party or rank-and-file Republicans say he’s straying from conservative ideology,” Gantt said. “People forget the local Republican Party is made up of hundreds of thousands of different people, and they can advocate certain policies. … I have a quote from Ronald Reagan on the back of my business card that says, ‘My 80 percent friend is not my 20 percent enemy.’ ”
County Democratic Party chair Mark Owens said he wouldn’t worry too much about what the local Republicans did, saying his focus was just on putting up strong local candidates.
“We let them handle their business,” Owens said. “I’ve enjoyed working with Greg; he’s an honorable man. I don’t know a lot about Mr. Scott.”
Gantt said party changes come in cycles. He said when he started in 2007, “it was probably as low as our brand could be,” after Ken Blackwell got just 36 percent of the vote in the governor’s race against Ted Strickland. But then in 2010 Republicans swept state offices.
“Where the rubber hits the road is how long do these cycles last,” Gantt said. “ I hope it carries into the 2012 elections, but no one knows.”
The Dayton Tea Party board of directors last weekend elected Clayton resident Don Birdsall as the group’s new president for a two-year term. Birdsall had been vice president under Scott.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2278 or jkelley@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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