Religious opposition to birth control won’t be a good enough reason for church-affiliated employers to get out of having to cover birth control for employees, according to an announcement from the Department of Secretary of Health and Human Services. Several types of companies will have an extra year to come into compliance with the edict, ushered in by the Obama administration’s health care reforms.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports colleges, hospitals and social service agencies with church affiliations are among those that have the extra year to get up to speed.

The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops isn’t too happy with the decision:

“Never before has the federal government forced individuals and organizations to go out into the marketplace and buy a product that violates their conscience. This shouldn’t happen in a land where free exercise of religion ranks first in the Bill of Rights.”

When religion clashes with law, there’s never an easy solution. But keeping the same set of rules for employers, regardless of religious affiliation, seems reasonable.

Religious employers must cover pill, Feds say [San Diego Union-Tribune]

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