Obama adjusts birth control policy after protests

President Barack Obama, grappling with a political firestorm that threatened to consume his administration, unveiled a birth control coverage compromise today that he says will both protect religious liberties and ensure that women have access to free contraception. Capping weeks of growing controversy, Obama announced he was backing off a newly announced requirement for church-affiliated employers to provide free birth control coverage even if it runs counter to their religious beliefs. Instead, workers at such institutions will be able to get free contraception directly from health insurance companies. The president’s abrupt shift is an attempt to satisfy both sides of a deeply sensitive debate and, most urgently, to end a mounting political nightmare for the White House. Although the administration had originally given itself more than a year to work out the details of the new birth control coverage requirement for employers with overt religious affiliations, the president acknowledged that the situation had become untenable and demanded a swift solution. Get the full story from The Associated Press here.