Still No Pill Bill

So it seems. "Be assured that this attack is not limited to contraception," Cardinal Egan wrote of the bill in his letter. The Church is also bracing itself for a fight over insurance coverage of fertility treatments (some of which it opposes on moral grounds), arguing that such a law would infringe on its religious freedom. Egan's greatest fear: reimbursement for the ultimate sin. "Undoubtedly, mandates in favor of direct abortion will follow shortly."

At the rate the Women's Health and Wellness Act is moving, the Cardinal has little to worry about. Nobody is willing to guarantee that the Assembly and Senate will work out their differences by the end of the legislative session in June. Meanwhile, for as long as these two important health measures are caught in this tangle of politics, women will continue to lose out on preventive care and shoulder the financial cost of birth control.