What’s more important to you: women’s health or religious freedom?

That question, playing out in heated debates across the nation, may be pivotal in whether President Obama wins reelection.

The controversy began last month with the Obama administration’s decision to require Catholic universities, hospitals, and charities to provide free access to contraceptives for employees and students. (Churches themselves are exempt.) The ruling is consistent with a provision in the Affordable Care Act that requires most health insurance plans to offer contraceptives at no charge.

The administration points out that many employees who work for Catholic institutions aren’t of that faith; neither are many of the students who attend Catholic universities. A whopping 98 percent of Catholic women are using or have used contraception at some point in their lives, seemingly adding heft to the president’s position.

As you might imagine, that mandate wasn’t greeted warmly by many Catholic leaders. John Garvey, president of Catholic University in Washington, D.C., said at the time:

“It requires us to contradict in our actions the very lessons that we’re teaching with our words … it makes us hypocrites in front of the students we’re trying to educate.”

Perhaps recognizing the political danger, Obama compromised Friday. Instead of forcing religious organizations to pay for free contraceptive care directly, he will allow their insurance companies to provide the benefit on their behalf.

Like many conservatives, Yuval Levin of The National Review views the compromise as meaningless:

“The only difference is that the access to those contraceptive and abortifacient drugs would not technically be listed as one of the benefits the employer was paying for directly but would be listed as a benefit the insurer was paying for (with the money the employer paid for the broader insurance policy, of course).”

On the other side, women’s health advocates cite the nonpartisan Institute of Medicine, whose 2011 report says that contraception is crucial:

“In 2008, about half of all pregnancies in the United States were unplanned, and 42 percent of the unintended pregnancies ended in abortion. When the use of birth control went up, rates of unintended pregnancy and abortion fell.”

These types of cultural issues are among the toughest for presidents to navigate, as they are rooted in two very strong value arguments—in this case, women’s health versus religious freedom. (That may be a false choice, but that’s the way advocates on the two sides have framed their respective positions.)

Often, the most dangerous moments for politicians are those that reinforce a widely held narrative. Millions of Americans view Obama with skepticism over his own religious faith, in large part due to unfounded concerns (that he’s secretly a Muslim) and more accurate ones (that his fiery hometown minister Jeremiah Wright said, “God damn America”).

By acting swiftly, Obama hopes to avoid another Jeremiah Wright-level religious controversy, which could cost him a significant-enough swath of independent voters to affect the outcome of this November’s election. Yes, this issue could become that important, and his Republican opponents are doing everything they can to exploit it.

I’m skeptical that this compromise will put this issue to rest. The president has a lot of people on his side, including many liberal and moderate Catholics who have used contraceptives. But conservatives view this compromise as a distinction without a difference, and they are certain to keep this issue alive until Election Day.

If you want to learn more about this issue, this PBS piece does a nice job of summarizing the debate:




Visit the Mr. Media Training Blog to see the 21 Most Essential Media Training Links. Brad Phillips is the author of the Mr. Media Training Blog and president of Phillips Media Relations, which specializes in media and presentation training.

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