Contraception Furor v. Catholic Realities The current flap over health care is about birth control, it is not about religious liberty, and it is not over. By Mary E. Hunt

http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/sexandgender/5713/contraception_furor_v._catholic_realities http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/sexandgender/5713/contraception_furor_v._catholic_realities 

• "Not Religious Liberty, but Religious Influence
   The bishops’ issue is not religious liberty, but religious influence, namely, their own which is on the wane. The institutional Roman Catholic Church squandered the political clout it once enjoyed. Clergy sexual abuse cases and their cover-up by bishops are unspeakable crimes that cost more than just the billions of dollars spent to adjudicate cases and compensate victims. They cost credibility...The bishops remain dissatisfied with the Obama compromise and vow to fight on. Most Catholics are just glad that most women will have access to contraception, provided that the insurance companies step up to the plate. But the question that is far from settled in a democracy is how one huge religious group gets its many voices heard. Catholic voters will have a chance to express their commitment to women at the ballot box"