The Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio has decided to drop its student health plan because of federal healthcare laws that will require the university to cover contraception. According to Inside Higher Ed:
“We will not participate in a plan that requires us to violate the consistent teachings of the Catholic Church on the sacredness of human life,” the university said in a statement on its website.
The college’s decision had both a religious and a financial component, said Michael Hernon, vice president of advancement at Franciscan. Officials considered the required coverage for birth control, which is forbidden in Catholic doctrine, and the “morning-after pill,” which some Christian groups consider tantamount to abortion, to be unacceptable. But he said insurance premiums were set to double — from $600 per student per year to $1,300 per student — due to higher coverage limits imposed as part of the Affordable Care Act, the new health care law.
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