Xavier University to Cut Off Birth Control Coverage for Employees on July 1
- Posted on April 4, 2012 at 10:10pm by
Billy Hallowell
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Xavier University, located in Cincinnati, Ohio, is one of the nation’s oldest Roman Catholic colleges. In addition to distinguishing itself through its robust history, Xavier is also making headlines over its new policies surrounding birth control coverage. As of July 1, the college will be cutting off contraceptive coverage for employees.
Considering the fact that Xavier is a Catholic institution, the natural question is — why was the university covering birth control in the first place? The answer: It was apparently never meant to be embedded in the coverage — at least that’s what one student says.
“That coverage never should have been there in the first place,” proclaimed Meghan Savercool, a junior theology student who supports the policy change.
The university has not commented on whether it knew the coverage was provided, but following the monumental battle unfolding between the Obama administration and the Catholic Church, the issue has come under review.
Protesters stand outside the Sandra Day O'Connor Federal Courthouse Friday, March 23, 2012 in Phoenix. during the Stand Up For Religious Freedom Rally. The rally is part of a nationwide Rally for Religious Freedom which is a reaction against the Obama Administrations HHS mandate that will obligate Catholic organizations to provide contraceptive services to their employees. (AP Photo/Matt York)
Reuters has more about the developments:
The controversy [between Obama and the Church] prompted Xavier President Michael Graham, a Jesuit priest, to review the health insurance plan offered to the university’s 935 employees. Graham announced this week in a letter to the faculty that the plan will cease to cover contraception on July 1.
Some faculty members who relied on the coverage said they were surprised and upset at the sudden end to benefits, which could raise their out-of-pocket costs for contraception by hundreds of dollars a year.
“It hadn’t occurred to me that this would ever be an issue,” said Tina Davlin-Pater, an associate professor in the department of sports studies.
Davlin-Pater, an athletic trainer who is not Catholic, said she viewed the denial of birth control coverage as an indication that “it‘s still OK to discriminate against women in today’s world.”
Some, like biology chairperson Dorothy Engle, are surprised by the university’s decision to cut off access to faculty and staff, citing Xavier’s typically “ecumenical” feel and openness to students and employees from a diverse pool of religions.
Read more about the debate surrounding Xavier’s policies here. It will be interesting to see if other Catholic universities follow the lead on dropping the coverage or if they will continue to provide coverage for contraceptives that the church officially dubbs sinful.
(H/T: Reuters)
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Comments (63)
NealPatrick
Posted on April 5, 2012 at 6:54amI personally feel that health insurance shouldn’t pay for routine, normal medical care, but rather be just like your car and home insurance….. to pay for extraordinary accidents/damages.
Report Post »out of many one
Posted on April 5, 2012 at 7:36amEXACTLY!
Report Post »Terms such as “health insurance” and “health care” have also been used by Democrats as if they are one and the same.
People without “health insurance” DO get “health care”. Hang around the lobby of any hospital and you will see poor people getting healthcare every single day. Obama and his sycophants don’t want to hear that.
happ77
Posted on April 5, 2012 at 9:17amExactly !
Report Post »I sold health Ins. for many years starting in the 80′s
The plans then paid for “necessary medical care” period.
They were inexpensive (compared to today) and if
bought from a reputable company they worked. Then
along comes the HMO’s promising everything for a $5 copay.
Along with the politicians mandating coverage for unnecessary
care because it wasn‘t fair that people couldn’t have kids or
couldn’t afford not having them. Health Ins. has to make life fairer
And the votes that it bought were nice.
db321
Posted on April 5, 2012 at 3:04pmObama doesn’t care if one women ever get BC pills – he is using this to Demonize all Christians and Jews. People that read between the lines know what he is doing and he is doing what any good Muslim should do. Find the most gullible and naive segment of society and lie to them – they will by into it and praise him for it.
But for all the Ladies reading – and I’m saying this in a very nice and pleasant tone – Nobody loves or cares more about women than Obama – and all the Ladies in America praise Obama’s name.
It was said long ago that Women would be the ones that would bring down America – The Women that vote in a second term for Obama will be the ones that do it. I predict Obama will kill BC payments in less than two months after he is re-elected.
You ladies that are voting for Obama in his re-election are distorting your children’s future – over Birth Control – Good Gosh!
Report Post »greatgrandma
Posted on April 5, 2012 at 6:48amFor all those cry baby women out there who can’t afford to pay for their own BC, there are 2 alternatives, both work, abstain, or use the rhythm method. We had to pay for our own BC, and so should you. No taxpayer should be forced to pay it for you.
Report Post »SouthSideLib
Posted on April 5, 2012 at 1:20pmAbstainence doesn’t prevent Multicystic Ovarian Syndrome or Endometriosis, nice try though
Report Post »greatgrandma
Posted on April 5, 2012 at 9:34pmI don’t think Birth control pills can prevent these either.
Report Post »Aquinas
Posted on April 5, 2012 at 5:43amI am pleased that a Catholic University, and Jesuit too, finally read the small print. Now, maybe we can get down to business and take another look at the Vat II Schema’s.
Report Post »CROCK-HANDLER
Posted on April 5, 2012 at 4:43amBirth control is not for kids!……?
Report Post »jlfonz
Posted on April 5, 2012 at 1:38amXavier has a slut working for them too? Hundreds of dollars a year for birth control. maybe she needs to learn some self-control
Report Post »SouthSideLib
Posted on April 5, 2012 at 1:21pmYou do realize that a woman takes the same amount of BC pills no matter how much sex she is or isn’t having right?
Report Post »NOT A CRAZY
Posted on April 5, 2012 at 1:25amZero is a white-black.
Report Post »happ77
Posted on April 5, 2012 at 9:19amThe PC term is White-African/American
Report Post »Z
Posted on April 5, 2012 at 12:35amAmen. Well done!
Report Post »shogun459
Posted on April 5, 2012 at 12:24amHURRAY for them, good show!
Report Post »Baikonur
Posted on April 5, 2012 at 12:04amHow awful. I am sure there will be protests and it won’t last.
Report Post »bw3131
Posted on April 5, 2012 at 12:54amBaa Baaa Baa Black sheep said you NEVER last!
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on April 5, 2012 at 1:17amThe Muslims said something like that… before the Crusaders arrived!
Report Post »Bill Rowland
Posted on April 5, 2012 at 8:15amThis is going to be a new lawsuit for Holdup and the DOJ. They will try to back up Sweet Old Barrys edict that all scools furnish birth control tp employees.
This could get interesting, the lawyers of the church against the syncopants in the DOJ. Another constitutional issue? Seperation of church and state?
OMG 2012
Report Post »unworthy
Posted on April 4, 2012 at 11:52pmHopeful that other universities will follow this courageous example. I personally called the President of Xavier to thank him for standing up for the teachings of the church. I think they were pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t a complaint but rather a compliment. Still find it so hard to believe that contraception is such an issue. What has our culture turned into? Does anyone remember that chastity is a virture. I wish more people would promote that than tell us about their sexual needs by needing free contraception. Does anybody have any self control, self denial, purity, and modesty in their relationships anymore? I am so sick of the promotion of this sexual culture…it is rather sickening and so uncontrollably needy!
Report Post »Baikonur
Posted on April 5, 2012 at 12:08amWhat planet are you from? Some of us do not choose to be monks or nuns. Sex is a natural and beautiful part of life.
Report Post »bw3131
Posted on April 5, 2012 at 12:49amBAIKONur, Your beautiful, natural sheep got away! implications were you we forcefull, ugly and “lost” your birth control! I am turning the sheep over to the sheep protective services dept. of peta, they love to administer anal exams, I am told, to irresponsable wooly wacking wubber wosers like you! Dweeb BOY has never been with a wawaweal wawawooman, have you!
Report Post »greatgrandma
Posted on April 5, 2012 at 6:28amI am 66 yrs old. In my day I paid for my own birth control. Never complained. So why as tax payers should we pay for yours. Why don‘t all these females today just their mouths and take care of themselves and they’re own birth control. And if you can’t afford it, two things to do, abstain or learn the rrythem method; It works, I did it for 2 yrs.
Report Post »Nasado
Posted on April 5, 2012 at 7:23amWhile I do not agree with the whole birth control issue, many of the statements in your comment are not correct. First, it is being removed for the employees of the university, not the students. (I imagine the students have no coverage for that) That being said, while there are some staff that are single, i imagine that the majority of them are married. If that is the case then your whole point of virtue and chastity is void. Those who are married and have se x are still virtuous and chaste. (as long as they do it in the confines of the marraige) I do agree that there is a sexual culture that is being promoted in our country, especially toward the youthand that needs to be changed by us. But, that is not necessarily the point of this article. There is nothing wrong with relations in a marriage, it is as God ordains. And (according to my belief) there is nothing wrong with contraception especially when used in a marraige. That does not mean that I should pay for it though.
Report Post »4xeverything
Posted on April 5, 2012 at 9:23amIn another day and age when I was much younger and not nearly as enlightened, I used the pill. It cost $12 per month. This was in the late 90s and early 2000s. The price has not changed and if someone tells you otherwise, they are lying! These ridiculous women who work at X and are stunned and offended have the choice to work elsewhere. They knew the moment they gave their resumes to X that it was a Catholic university. They have the choice to leave as well. They can even drive 3 miles from X and apply to the University of Cincinnati. Their choices do not equal rights.
Report Post »unworthy
Posted on April 5, 2012 at 12:20pmI am not of this world…I am in exile.
Report Post »unworthy
Posted on April 5, 2012 at 12:35pmat nasado…so what’s your point? you believe in the right to birth control, but don’t want to pay for it? Chastity will always be a virtue whether you are married or not. Sex is exploited with the issue of birth control. If you are married, what you do in the privacy of your home is not the issue. Sex is for procreation and is a gift from God. No matter your beliefs on the issue of birth control, it still prevents procreation and that is a moral consideration that the church is not willing to alter. Religious liberty is at stake…next it will be something else.
Report Post »barbofmv
Posted on April 4, 2012 at 11:36pmgood
Report Post »cracker_
Posted on April 4, 2012 at 11:30pmIt‘s all FLICKING FLUKE’s fault.
Report Post »Captain Crunch
Posted on April 4, 2012 at 11:28pmHundreds of dollars??? Seems to me I heard it would only cost a nickel (between the knees).
Report Post »In other words, keep your legs closed and it won’t cost you anything.
Weatherboy
Posted on April 4, 2012 at 11:07pmAbout the only birth control I would support, would be forced contraception from the government for the Musslimes! Then we should send them back to Asscrackistan!
Report Post »antrancher
Posted on April 4, 2012 at 11:13pmMuslims are exempt from Obamacare! It is true, look it up!
Report Post »Doctor Nordo
Posted on April 4, 2012 at 11:03pm“Davlin-Pater, an athletic trainer who is not Catholic, said she viewed the denial of birth control coverage as an indication that “it‘s still OK to discriminate against women in today’s world.”
The people who spout this nonsense are just dumb! I guess it’s no surprise that this one is a P.E. teacher.
It’s only discriminatory if the service is being offered to one group of people and not another. Are guys being offered birth control in their health insurance plans? No? THEN IT’S NOT DISCRIMINATION YOU DUMBASS!
Report Post »angelcat
Posted on April 5, 2012 at 12:08amNo one is forcing her to work for a Catholic institution. If having birth control is so important to her, I suggest she quit and go work somewhere else where she can have her all-important birth control coverage.
Report Post »Marine25
Posted on April 5, 2012 at 9:50amVasectomies are covered in all insurance policies. About $5500 out of pocket. That’s birth control folks, and nobody is talking about it because it the form of birth control used by older men. Of course this policy is discriminating against women, what else have Christians, and especially Catholics, have been doing it for centuries.
Report Post »Doctor Nordo
Posted on April 5, 2012 at 1:57pmMarine, a vasectomy is not the same as birth control pills. Yes, it is a “form” of “birth control”, but so is a hysterectomy and those are also covered by insurance. Stop trying to equate birth control pills with a surgical procedure because they’re just not the same.
Report Post »Doctor Nordo
Posted on April 5, 2012 at 1:58pmAlso, tubal ligations are covered by insurance as well, so GG dude. GG.
Report Post »The Third Archon
Posted on April 4, 2012 at 11:03pmWonderful–theologies with anachronistic beliefs taking away incentives to believe or associate with them in the first place.
Report Post »Doctor Nordo
Posted on April 4, 2012 at 11:39pmSomehow I doubt that the presence or lack of a birth control option on a health insurance plan is ever going to tip the scale one way or the other in the acceptance or rejection of a job.
Report Post »angelcat
Posted on April 5, 2012 at 1:51pmThe Church doesn’t give “incentives” to believe. And it doesn’t change its beliefs according to how politically correct or popular they are. No one is forced to become Catholic if they don’t believe the teachings of the Church. The Church should not and will not change just in order to get more people to join or make those who already are Catholic happy.
Report Post »TheObamanation
Posted on April 4, 2012 at 10:44pmObama has the reverse midas touch … ironic his attack ends up taking away the benefits he wanted to force someone to pay
Report Post »Midwest Blonde
Posted on April 4, 2012 at 10:36pmI get really pi$$ed off over people who claim it’s going to cost them 100s of $ to pay for their own birth control. Since when? You can get $9 bc pills at Target and Walmart, condoms aren’t THAT expensive, other methods aren’t that expensive. So tell me, why should it be such a burden on people to pay for their own bc? I did (When I was in child-bearing years). Didn’t “break the bank” either.
Report Post »valarie
Posted on April 4, 2012 at 10:31pmGood for them! In your face, B. Hussein Obama. Oh, and by the way, how do you, Barack, think your fellow Muslimes would feel about being forced to provide the poultry price of contraceptives to your young, “pure”, Muslim girls? Hmmmm….. Chew on that for a while with a stick of pork jerky.
Report Post »hillbillyinny
Posted on April 4, 2012 at 10:29pmStand for TRUTH and RIGHT! If you are Catholic you abide by the dictates of Holy Mother Church. If you choose not to abide, you’re not Catholic by your choice!
Report Post »sundaisy91
Posted on April 4, 2012 at 10:28pmSince when do contraceptives cost “hundreds of dollars” per year? I used it years and years ago, with no financial help from anyone else, and it did NOT cost that much, even at a regular pharmacy. Now, these people can go to PP and get it free or at reduced cost. What are they whining about?!! A pharmacy tech i know said you can get it at wal-mart for about 10$ for a 3mth supply. For crying out loud people, pay for it yourself and stop whining that you can’t get something for free! Haven’t you ever heard the saying, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch!” ? I do not want to pay for your stuff. After all, no one pays for my medication that i am REQUIRED to take, but i don’t ask anyone to do that either. And this has nothing to do with discrimination against women, it is a Catholic University following the teachings of the Catholic Church that it answers to. If you don’t like, go teach somewhere else that will give you what you want. i am so sick of all these people wanting something for free. You know what, you want something, you pay for it. If you have to get a second job to do it, so be it. Wouldn’t hurt you to actually work for something. I mean, birth control isn’t exactly a life saving medication, like high blood pressure pills or insulin is it, so why should we, the taxpayers and insurance premium payers, have to pay for it?
Report Post »ScienceIsNotEvil
Posted on April 4, 2012 at 10:40pmThey require a prescription which you, if your good Christian ways, “forgot” to mention. Such behavior borders on lying unless you know of a way to get them without spending 100+ for a doctors apt.
Report Post »sundaisy91
Posted on April 4, 2012 at 10:52pmto “science is not evil”: yes i know they require a scrip. I used them once, i am well aware of that. They can still go to the doctor and get the doctor’s visit paid through insurance. Or they can go to PP who, i believe, still has a sliding scale so you pay based on your income. Other women’s clinics also offer reduced rates for disadvantaged women. Your argument holds no water.
Report Post »addie
Posted on April 4, 2012 at 11:33pm@science – doc visit is still covered and guess what? Docs hand out several months of free samples. Bc pills are handed out like candy in a doc office if you don’t have coverage
Report Post »ScienceIsNotEvil
Posted on April 5, 2012 at 12:34amNot all insurance plans cover doctors visits unless you have 2,000 or more in expenses each year.
Report Post »SPOT_OF_TEA
Posted on April 4, 2012 at 10:27pmYou know the administration will see this as good news as they continue to divide the country heading into the election.
Report Post »spirited
Posted on April 4, 2012 at 10:22pmDavlin-Pater, an athletic trainer who is not Catholic, said she viewed the denial of birth control coverage as an indication that “it‘s still OK to discriminate against women in today’s world.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~What?
>Make sure to vote for Obama in 2012…and blame Bush.
Report Post »Grey Eagle
Posted on April 4, 2012 at 10:21pmThese people chose to work for a Catholic University. They know the teachings of the church before taking a job. Instead of complaining go find a job at a liberal University and you can get whatever you want. Otherwise pay for your own contraceptives like the rest of us.
Report Post »ScienceIsNotEvil
Posted on April 4, 2012 at 10:42pmThe Church is against restrictions on illegal immigration so can I assume you would support them not having to pay taxes since it goes to something they are against?
cookcountypatriot
Posted on April 4, 2012 at 10:20pmbout time the catholics stop fluking around
Report Post »possom
Posted on April 5, 2012 at 4:39amlol
Report Post »