Contraception fight heads to state legislatures, federal court

The Associated Press: States Attack 'Obamacare' With Birth Control Bills
Republican lawmakers in a handful of states are opening another front in the war against President Obama's health care overhaul, seizing on the hot-button issue of birth control with bills that would allow insurance companies to ignore new federal rules requiring them to cover contraception. Measures introduced recently in Idaho, Missouri and Arizona would go beyond religious nonprofits and expand exemptions to secular insurers or businesses that object to covering contraception, abortion and sterilization (Miller, 2/17). 

CNN: Obama Administration Asks For Delay In Legal Fight Over Contraception Coverage
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty has filed a series of lawsuits, arguing that even the revised polices on contraception access would constitute a violation of their clients' faith. Belmont Abbey College is a Catholic-affiliated liberal arts institution near Charlotte, North Carolina. The school claims that under current law, they are not free from the "religious exemption" and would be forced to provide contraception to its employees and students (Mears, 2/17).

NPR's SHOTS blog: Fight Over Contraceptive Coverage Heats Up In Court
The fact is, according to the Justice Department's motion to dismiss the case, Belmont Abbey College's health plan apparently is not now, and was not in November, subject to the contraceptive coverage requirement. That's because it seems to have been "grandfathered" under the 2010 Affordable Care Act. As such, the college's health plan is not subject to the contraceptive coverage rule, either the original or modified one (Rovner, 2/17).