Contraception coverage rule ripples through college campuses

A fight over allowing HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius -- a key player in creating a mandate to force student health plans to cover contraception -- to speak at Georgetown's graduation continues. In the meantime, a Catholic university in Ohio is ending its student health insurance plan instead of complying with the mandate.

The Washington Post: Washington's Catholic Archbishop, Georgetown President Spar Over Graduation Invitation To Kathleen Sebelius
Since Sebelius was announced earlier this month as one of the speakers for this week's Georgetown graduation ceremonies, about 27,000 people have signed a petition, circulated by a conservative Catholic think tank, urging the university to withdraw the invitation. Sebelius was a key architect of the 2010 health care law, and she authored the requirement that employers, including most religious ones, provide their employees with contraception coverage (Boorstein, 5/15).

Reuters: Catholic College Drops Health Plan Over Contraception Mandate
A small Catholic college in Ohio said Tuesday it was dropping health insurance coverage for students rather than comply with a federal mandate that the plan provide free birth control. The Franciscan University of Steubenville "will not participate in a plan that requires us to violate the consistent teachings of the Catholic Church on the sacredness of human life," according to a bulletin to students posted on the university's website (Simon, 5/15).

Fox News: Catholic University Drops Student Health Insurance, Cites ObamaCare
A Catholic university in Ohio said Tuesday it is being forced to end a student health insurance program over the Obama administration's contraception mandate and costs associated with other provisions of the health care overhaul. Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio, said it has so far excluded contraceptive services and products from its health insurance policy for students and will not participate in a plan that "requires us to violate the consistent teachings of the Catholic Church on the sacredness of human life" (5/16).