Contraceptive mandate

Grace on the Margins: There is plenty of evidence to suggest that the real endgame in the bishops' anti-abortion fight is the radical desire to control women's agency and women's fertility.

A lawsuit to force the University of Notre Dame to provide free contraceptives and abortifacient drugs in its health plans will proceed after receiving a green light from a federal district court in South Bend.

As someone who believes that women have a right to birth control but also believes that government should respect people’s religious beliefs, I see this controversy as both a tragedy and a farce. If there had been goodwill on both sides, litigation would not have been necessary. In fact, each side was suspicious of the other and any kind of deal became impossible.

The upcoming Supreme Court term — which starts Oct. 7 — will offer plenty of cases that Catholics will be paying close attention to including: the status of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a number of religious liberty cases including a school-choice program in Montana and workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender.

Distinctly Catholic: President Trump announced new HHS rules that give much more robust conscience protections to health care providers, and fighting ensued. A voice of reason in this debate, unsurprisingly, is Daughter of Charity Sr. Carol Keehan, president and CEO of Catholic Health Association.

Now is the time for the proponents of religious liberty to offer to negotiate a grand compromise with those who promote women’s rights.

The chairman and CEO of the Eternal Word Television Network said the global Catholic media organization is "grateful that finally" it no longer "has to worry about being forced to choose between massive fines and following our faith."

President Donald Trump's administration has issued new rules it says will "provide conscience protections for Americans who have a religious or moral objection to health insurance that covers contraception methods."