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By JANET ADAMY
At masses across the country Sunday, Roman Catholic priests blasted the Obama administration's compromise on contraceptive insurance coverage, a sign the White House's backtrack late last week did little to defuse the controversy.The new policy requires religious employers such as universities and charities to cover contraception in employee health plans but shifts the responsibility for paying for it away from the employer and on to its health-insurance provider. Previously, the administration had required all employers apart from churches to cover contraception in their employee-insurance plans.
Associated Press
'By what authority does the President of the United States seek to impose this immoral policy?' — The Most Rev. Thomas J. Tobin, bishop of Providence, R.I.
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Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami said that while he appreciated Mr. Obama's attempt to strike a compromise, it doesn't go far enough.
"A legislative remedy to this overreaching and unprecedented incursion of state power into the domain of religious freedom and the rights of conscience is still necessary," he said in a statement.
"By what authority does the President of the United States seek to impose this immoral policy?" Bishop Thomas J. Tobin of Providence, R.I., asked in a statement. "This is the United States, not North Korea."
Administration officials said Sunday they don't plan to give religious groups any further exemption to the requirement. One administration official said the White House didn't anticipate the deal would win over the Catholic bishops, who also refused to support the 2010 health-overhaul law that included the contraception requirement.
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'A legislative remedy to this overreaching and unprecedented incursion of state power into the domain of religious freedom and the rights of conscience is still necessary.' — Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami
A tracking poll last week by the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute, taken before the administration's compromise, found that a majority of Catholics, 58%, believe all employers should be required to provide their employees with health-care plans that cover contraception.
When asked whether religiously affiliated colleges and hospitals should have to provide that coverage, 52% of Catholics said they should.
"We have support from charities [and] hospitals," said Jennifer Palmieri, White House deputy communications director. Catholic bishops will be among those invited to attend meetings with the administration in the coming days to get their input. "We're always going to want to hear their concerns," she said.
The administration had hoped the Friday agreement would calm a simmering fight with Catholic leaders. The change did win over some, including the head of the Catholic Health Association and the president of the University of Notre Dame, as well as some rank-and-file members of the church.
But the decision late Friday by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to oppose the compromise is likely to encourage priests across the country to continue their months-long campaign against the requirement.
After signaling possible support for the change Friday afternoon, the bishops issued a statement late Friday saying they still had "serious moral concerns." They noted the proposal didn't contain provisions for religious employers who self-insure, meaning the employer takes on the underlying risk of covering employees' health care.
The way the bishops see it, there is little change in the policy even with the compromise. The bishops contend contraception would still be financed just like the rest of the coverage, meaning the religious employer is effectively paying for it.
The bishops say they will push for passage of Republican-sponsored legislation in Congress that would block the insurance requirement.
Other priests held off from taking sides in the dispute but used Sunday's homily to remind parishioners why the Catholic Church opposes the use of contraception.
"Someone in Congress made the distinction that 'birth control is medicine,' " the Rev. Robert Bubel told attendees at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. "It is, in fact, a poison. It is a poison for our bodies. It is a poison for our souls."
—Louise Radnofsky, Jim Carlton, Pervaiz Shallwani, Arian Campo-Flores and Jennifer Levitz contributed to this article. Write to Janet Adamy at janet.adamy@wsj.com
Dear Attorney General Eric Schneiderman:
The Bettors of the State of New York and the employees of the remaining OTBs, public benefit corporations, have no standing to ask for your Opinion to the following simple questions with seemingly obvious answers::
1. Will the Attorney General defend the constitutionality of NY PML Sec 105?
2. Does NY PML Sec 105 apply to Nassau OTB?
3. Does NY PML Sec 105 violate the rights of New York Bettors secured by NY Const. Art. 1, Sec. 3?
4. Is NY PML Sec 105 vague, indefinite and/or overly broad as the term "Easter Sunday" does not define one and only one Sunday in all years (see eg Gregorian and Julian Calendars)?
I hope that you will sua sponte issue an Opinion as to the above so that bettors may bet, workers may work or not as they wish, and the State and its subdivisions make money. There are tracks running all across the United States every day of the year that bettors want to bet. Track calendars may be found at eg www.ntra.com. The OTBs also sell New York Lottery tickets which are drawn every day of the year. The OTBs also cash non IRS Lottery tickets in cash for any sum, a convenience for many Lotto Players.
It is critical in these current time that the OTBs are open when customers want to bet. I believe that your Opinion will belatedly validate the actions of New York City OTB taken on the advice of its Counsel in 2003.
Sincerely yours,
January 5, 2012
Open On 1st Palm Sunday, Otb Rakes In $2m - New York Daily News
articles.nydailynews.com/.../18220335_1_racing-and-wagering-boar...
Open On 1st Palm Sunday, Otb Rakes In $2m. BY JERRY BOSSERT DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER. Monday, April 14, 2003. New York City Off-Track Betting ...
§ 105. Supplementary regulatory powers of the board. Notwithstanding
any inconsistent provision of law, the board through its rules and
regulations or in allotting dates for racing or in licensing race
meetings at which pari-mutuel betting is permitted shall be empowered
to: (i) permit racing at which pari-mutuel betting is conducted on any
or all dates from the first day of January through the thirty-first day
of December, inclusive of Sundays but exclusive of December twenty-fifth
and Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday; and (ii) fix minimum and maximume
charges for admission at any race meeting.
See also
http://www.liherald.com/elmont/elmont/stories/Legislation-would-strengthen-state-OTB-corporations,31667
March 29, 2011 | 2361 views
Legislation would strengthen state OTB corporations
Assemblyman Ed Ra introduced three bills to revitalize horse racing
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