Without former Michigan Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak, President Barack Obama wouldn’t have gotten his health care overhaul in 2010 passed through Congress.
But Stupak, a pro-life Catholic who voted for the health care reform after being promised that federal dollars wouldn’t fund abortions, now isn’t happy with Obama.
Appearing Wednesday night on Fox News, Stupak made clear he opposes the Obama administration’s insistence that religious-affiliated organizations are not exempted from the law’s requirement that health insurance plans cover contraceptives.
“I’m disappointed that the administration would put forth such a rule,” Stupak told host Greta Van Susteren.
The law does allow churches that oppose contraception for religious reasons to be exempt from the law.
Stupak said he hopes the Obama administration changes course on the rule. “I hope we can get the matter resolved short of further action by Congress,” he said. (RELATED: Full coverage of the Affordable Care Act)
House Speaker John Boehner on Wednesday accused Obama from the floor of the House of attacking religious freedom by not exempting religious-affiliated organizations.
Another liberal Catholic who isn’t happy with the new rule is columnist E.J. Dionne of The Washington Post.
In his column, Dionne recently wrote that Obama “utterly botched the admittedly difficult question of how contraceptive services should be treated under the new health-care law.”
“His administration mishandled this decision not once but twice,” he wrote. “In the process, Obama threw his progressive Catholic allies under the bus and strengthened the hand of those inside the Church who had originally sought to derail the health-care law.”