notre dame students petition for contraception coverage

The Obama administration’s mandate that Catholic employers cover birth control at no charge as part of their health insurance plans has been contentious issue for Catholic universities. The University of Notre Dame went as far to sue the Department of Health and Human Services over it in May. inside higher Edreported that three graduate students at the school have started a petition opposing the lawsuit in an environment where organized protest on the issue on Catholic campuses has been rare. Rather than arguing for birth control on its secular merits, the petition takes a theological tack, arguing that the mandate might not conflict with Catholic teachings at all. The petition relies on the doctrine of double effect which argues that in some cases, it is permissible to cause harm in the process of achieving something good under certain conditions, and suggests that insurance coverage for contraception might not conflict with Catholic teaching under that doctrine. Its writers go on to argue that an exception to the mandate would be coercive for non-Catholic students and employees or to Catholic students and employees who choose not to follow the church’s position on birth control