Rick Martinez, in his Feb. 8 column, asked about the requirement that public institutions include contraception coverage in employee insurance plans, to wit: "How can a Catholic institution teach that a practice is immoral while at the same time subsidize its use?"
There is a good answer: How can a religion-affiliated public institution that takes federal funds impose its religious beliefs on its employees? President Obama's directive didn't affect purely religious entities like churches, only church-linked hospitals and the like that take taxpayer money, and that both employ and serve people of all faiths.
It is precisely the taking of government money that exposes Catholic institutions to the same rules as other providers of similar services to the community. Catholic hospitals and universities have two choices: either stop taking government money, or respect the reproductive rights of female employees regardless of doctrine.
