More ObamaCare Mandates

The White House used last week's regularly scheduled Friday afternoon document dump to double down on its plan to offer free contraception for all women regardless of conscience issues. The "Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking" lists a number of ways that ObamaCare will provide all women free access to contraceptives, sterilization procedures and drugs that induce early abortion. It also specifically states that all student health plans must cover these so-called preventive services free of charge. This is the administration's latest response to outrage over ObamaCare's trampling of religious freedom with its contraception mandate. It doesn't address concerns of conscience for religious organizations or private employers; instead it retrenches the administration's position that those organizations supposedly won't have to pay for "preventive" coverage, because the cost will be pushed onto insurance companies. Unfortunately, those insurance companies will simply raise their premiums, forcing everyone to pay for "free" contraception anyway.

Barack Obama celebrated the announcement by taking his family to church. The Obamas are not regular churchgoers, but their attendance at St. John's Episcopal Church, the "Church of the Presidents," was noteworthy -- St. John's has publicly supported the ObamaCare mandate and has denounced Roman Catholic bishops and others who oppose it.