Cathy Young on Obama's Misguided Birth Control Mandate

Despite a proposed compromise last week, the firestorm rages on over the Obama Administration rule under which all employee health insurance plans, including ones at religiously affiliated institutions such as Catholic charities and schools, must include full coverage for birth control. The battle has been framed as one of religious freedom versus reproductive rights. But as Cathy Young observes, it also illustrates two troubling phenomena unrelated to religion: intrusive micromanagement of insurance options under the new federal health care law, and the redefinition of contraception as a public good rather than a personal choice.