Obama’s “Compromise”: A Further Review, Part One

By Dave Andrusko

“This regulation isn’t some kind of weird bug in the software of Obamacare. It’s not a clumsy overreach by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius or even by President Obama himself. The regulation isn’t a bug or an overreach at all. It’s a feature. It’s a feature that follows directly from the very structure, from the heart, of Obamacare.” — William Kristol, the Weekly Standard

As we were finalizing our last National Right to Life News Today story for Friday, The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued a statement under the headline, “Bishops Renew Call to Legislative Action on Religious Liberty” in response to Obama’s “compromise.” We were able to include a brief portion of the statement, the core of which was found in the subhead: “Regulatory changes limited and unclear—Rescission of Mandate only complete solution– Continue urging passage of Respect for Rights of Conscience Act.”

In other words, literally and figuratively, the devil WAS in the details, which became clearer over the last three days. As we talk about in parts two and three, the “compromise/tweaking/revising” of the mandate that compels Catholic universities, hospitals, and charities to paying for health insurance that covers sterilization and contraception was/is nothing of the sort. It is merely cover to attempt to hide a blatant payoff to the Planned Parenthoods and NARALs of this world who are feeling their oats after bludgeoning Komen for the Cure.

One important piece of evidence is that the President’s Friday press conference left PPFA and its allies chirping with delight. And they were not content merely to pat the Administration on the back for a job well done. POLITICO reported this morning that “Beginning today, NARAL Pro-Choice America will air ads in support of the Obama administration’s policy on contraceptive coverage for women” in addition to ads on Facebook and Google. In the ad, the listener is told, “We scored an important victory” over (you guessed it) the “extremists.”

But Obama’s couldn’t-care-less attitude toward religious liberties was not just to assuage his base. That’s also who he is. Moreover lost in the shuffle is that there is an additional component: Obama was indulging in a bit of political ju-jitsu.

As much as pro-abortionists insist the life issues cut in their favor, we know they don’t. But Obama’s particular knack—made possible by a compliant mainstream media—is to ram something down your throat, offer a “compromise,” and then insist that pro-lifers who disagree are disagreeing out of “politics.”

To this day, for example, we are told that the executive order Obama signed cleansed ObamaCare of anything that furthered abortion. It did absolutely nothing of the sort, as National Right to Life has made clear dozens and dozens of times.

Likewise, Obama insisted Friday that he had met all legitimate objections  to the mandate with the “revisions.” If the public buys that sophistry, Obama gets a two-fer: points from his base and the PR-image that (yet again) he is Mr. Reasonable surrounded by implacable foes who are out of the mainstream.

It is our job to make sure the American people know the truth: that the President cares not a twit about the religious liberties of individuals and institutions in they get in the way of his agenda.

Please note that National Right to Life strongly backs the “Respect for Rights of Conscience Act,” introduced into Congress by Reps. Jeff Fortenberry and Roy Blunt, which would overturn the Obama mandate and prevent the administration from forcing employers to provide coverage contrary to their religious and moral belief.

Your feedback is very important to improving National Right to Life News Today. Please send your comments to daveandrusko@gmail.com. If you like, join those who are following me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/daveha