Sheldon Richman on the Debate Over Obama's Contraceptive Mandate

Controversy rages over the Obama administration's proposed (and then modified) mandate that all employers—including Catholic hospitals and universities—include free contraception in their employee health insurance policies. Catholic officials object that since their church forbids contraception, the decree violates the First Amendment' s protection of religious freedom. Others have joined in the protest, prudently anticipating that this violation of freedom of conscience could spread to other matters and other faiths. As Sheldon Richman argues, the principle that no one should be forced to finance that which he or she finds abhorrent is sound. In fact, it should be generally applied.