Cardinal Newman Society

UPDATE: Boston College FORCED to Cover Students’ Contraceptives

Since releasing this report, we have learned that Massachusetts state law requires insurers to provide coverage for contraceptive drugs when other prescription drugs are covered, and also for contraceptive outpatient services when other outpatient services are covered. The law exempts churches and institutions controlled or substantially supported by a church, but Boston College is legally controlled by an independent board of trustees, not the founding Jesuit order.

Our report incorrectly suggested that Boston College’s student insurance coverage was not required under state law.

A Boston College spokesman has also confirmed in communications to alumni that the student insurance plan does not cover elective abortion.

New research by The Cardinal Newman Society has uncovered evidence that the student health insurance plan provided by Boston College, a Jesuit institution of Catholic higher education, includes coverage for “family planning” services such as birth control pills.

“Now that it has been uncovered that Boston College is providing unethical coverage to students, college officials should take immediate action to provide students with insurance options that conform to Catholic teachings,” said Patrick J. Reilly, President of The Cardinal Newman Society. “BC needs to send a strong message, especially after students voted in a referendum last year to petition the college to make contraceptives available on campus.”

Contraception and birth control services are explicitly covered under the student health plan, Blue Care Elect Preferred (PPO), which is an optional plan for students provided by Boston College. Although elective abortion is not explicitly stated in the policy, Koster Insurance Agency, Inc., Boston College’s insurance agent, could not rule out the possibility that abortions are covered by the policy, according to an article in the Boston College Observer.The revelations at Boston College stand in stark contrast to the situation at Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina, which is engaged in religious liberty battle with the U.S. Equal Opportunities Commission because the college refuses to cover contraception in its faculty health care plan.

Written By: CNSweb
Date Posted: 10/7/2009
Number of Views: 1622

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