The Xavier University of Ohio will be making cuts to the insurance it offers employees in July of this year. The university, which is one of the oldest Catholic colleges in the country, will stop providing coverage for birth control, railing against rules imposed by the federal government requiring all faith-based organizations to provide such coverage to their employees. The university’s decision has struck a chord with the Obama administration, which is now accusing the college of standing in the way of a regulation that would be beneficial to women’s health.
The Obama administration instituted new regulations earlier this year that require all health insurance plans provide insurance coverage for contraceptive care. The mandate was ill-received by faith-based organizations, who claimed that it was an infringement upon their spiritual beliefs and their right to practice these beliefs.
The Obama administration claims that the mandate is an important part in improving health care for women. This claim spurred Xavier University President Michael Graham to review the college’s insurance plan and determine that it was not needed for its 935 employees.
There are many that are for and against the decision to cut contraception coverage. Some of school’s faculty have made public statements against the move while many students have come out to defend the university’s decision, backing the institutions insistence that the mandate infringes upon its rights.