Conservative GOP House Members Try to Use Shutdown to Force Fight Over Contraception Mandate

The Hill - Healthwatch blog: Conservatives want more time to fight against birth control mandate, by Elise Viebeck:

Conservative House members expressed a desire Tuesday to fund the government only until Dec. 15 in order to force a fight over ObamaCare's birth control mandate. 

Members of the House GOP discussed a proposal that would reopen the government through mid-December, just weeks before a provision of the mandate takes effect on Jan. 1 for religiously affiliated groups.  . . .

The modified policy will allow the employees of religious institutions to obtain free birth control directly from their insurance company. 

The institutions themselves will not have to "contract, arrange, pay or refer for contraceptive coverage," according to the Department of Health and Human Services. 

Critics say the policy still does not go far enough to protect groups that oppose contraception. . . .