CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Minor children on their parents\u2019 health care plans will have free coverage of sterilization and contraception, including abortion-causing drugs, under the controversial HHS mandate \u2013 and depending on the state, they can obtain access without parental consent.<\/p>\n\tMatt Bowman, senior counsel for the religious liberty legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, said the mandate \u201ctramples parental rights\u201d because it requires them to \u201cpay for and sponsor coverage of abortifacients, sterilization, contraception and education in favor of the same for their own children.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThe Department of Health and Human Services ruled in January 2012 that most employers who have 50 or more employees must provide the coverage as \u201cpreventive care\u201d for \u201call women with reproductive capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThe mandate also requires the coverage for beneficiaries, including minors, on the affected health plans, Bowman told CNA Sept. 20. That means that a minor on her parents\u2019 plan could be sterilized if she finds a doctor willing to perform the procedure.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cShe can be sterilized at no cost,\u201d Bowman stated. \u201cWhether her parents will know and\/or consent might differ by state. But the Guttmacher Institute and other abortion advocates explicitly advocated for this mandated coverage of minors so that access without parental involvement might be able to increase.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThe Guttmacher Institute, in a Sept. 1 briefing on state policies, said that an increase in minors\u2019 access to reproductive health care over the last 30 years shows a broader recognition that \u201cwhile parental involvement in minors\u2019 health care decisions is desirable, many minors will not avail themselves of important services if they are forced to involve their parents.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThe institute, the former research arm of abortion provider Planned Parenthood, said that 26 states and the District of Columbia allow all minors 12 years and older to consent to contraceptive services. At least one state, Oregon, allows 15-year-olds to consent to sterilization.<\/p>\n
\tCNA repeatedly contacted the Department of Health and Human Services for comment but did not receive a response.<\/p>\n
\tEmployers who do not comply with the mandate face fines of $100 per employee per day. Large employers like the University of Notre Dame could face annual fines in the millions.<\/p>\n
\tThere are presently 30 lawsuits challenging the HHS mandate in federal court on religious freedom grounds. The 80 plaintiffs include Catholic dioceses, universities, health care systems and charities.<\/p>\n
\tThe mandate\u2019s narrow religious exemption would not apply to many Catholic institutions, despite Catholics\u2019 moral and religious objections to the covered procedures and drugs. Several Protestant institutions have also challenged the law, citing objections to abortion-causing drugs.<\/p>\n
\tThe Obama administration has said it will accommodate some religious objections, though the details of those arrangements remain unclear.<\/p>\n
\tBowman rejected the idea that the Obama administration\u2019s proposed accommodations will affect the coverage of minors.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThe accommodation does not even claim it will change this part of the mandate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\tLegislation to allow all employers with religious or moral objections to opt out of the coverage failed in the U.S. Senate earlier this year.<\/p>\n
\tDefenders of the Obama administration have depicted resistance to the mandate as a \u201cwar on women.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tAt the same time, a grassroots campaign called The Women Speak for Themselves has garnered the support of 34,000 women. The group says those backing the mandate are trying to \u201cshout down anyone who disagrees\u201d with them by invoking \u201cwomen\u2019s health,\u201d while ignoring the negative physical and social effects of contraception for women.<\/p>\n
\tUpdated at Sept. 25, 2012 at 9:44 a.m. MST. Adds fines for employers in ninth paragraph.<\/em><\/p>\n\n
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