Dem Congresswoman Booed at Town Hall for Supporting Obama's Contraception Plan

Democratic Upstate New York Rep. Kathy Hochul may have trouble keeping her seat in the House after only just being elected in a special election this past May. Hochul has drawn the ire of her constituents after supporting the President's controversial decision to mandate religiously affiliated employers to provide full contraception coverage to employees. The White House has since claimed to have altered the plan to find a compromise with religious groups by moving the weight of paying for the requirement from employers to insurers. Hochul's backing of her party's leader infuriated many New Yorkers who came to a town hall meeting Friday to challenge the Congresswoman in regards to her stance on the issue.

WGRZ reports:

"'Kathy why have you betrayed our Catholic institutions?' One woman in the crowd told Hochul: 'This President has lied to us repeatedly when he proclaims support for conscience protection in his infamous speech at Notre Dame as well as in the executive order he signed following passage of the health care law. He is not worthy of your support in this matter.' Another man shouted 'It's an insult to the Catholics in this country to even listen to that gibberish. It is an absolute insult and Catholics deserve better. We were taking care of this country's sick long before the government got involved in it.'"

Another constituent challenged the Congresswoman that if health care is really the issue at hand, why are Democrats pushing funding for contraception rather than more important persuasions such as cancer screenings:

WGRZ notes that the meeting was heavily publicized on local Catholic radio and many Catholic organizations encouraged people to attend and discuss the contraception issue.

New York's 26th Congressional District had been represented by Republicans for all but 10 of the last 58 years. Hochul won a special election in the district last may after Republican Christopher Lee resigned amid a scandal involving shirtless pictures on craigslist.