Checking the Facts
From Libya to Contraception, our fact checkers did their research so you didn’t have to. See how the candidates statements stood up to fact checking.
Biden and Ryan on contraception:
Ryan attacked a health reform law policy that requires employers to offer insurance that covers contraception, among other health services for women, including religious charities, hospitals, and universities. (Religious groups that primarily employ people of their own faith are exempt.)
Biden objected, saying that religious groups, particularly Catholic hospitals and universities, would not have to “refer for contraception,” “pay for contraception,” and “none has to be a vehicle for contraception.”
His statement is partly true. The Obama administration rolled out what they called a compromise for the contraception rule after outrage from religious groups and Republicans. The compromise measure requires health insurance companies to cover all contraception costs if employers have a religious objection. That has created a problem for religious groups that self-insure—in other words, they hire an insurance company to administer their plans, but end up paying for all of the health care out of their own pockets.
Ryan said the contraception rule is an attack on first amendment rights. Democrats argue that the federal contraception rule mirrors similar regulations on the state level. That argument is up for interpretation in the nation’s courts now, as major Catholic organizations sue the federal government over the rule.
AP PHOTO/ERIC GAY
The Obamas Take in U.S.A. Basketball
On Monday, the Obamas and Bidens watched the U.S. men’s national basketball team vs. Brazil in a pre-Olympic exhibition.
PHOTO: AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais and Alex Brandon
PHOTO OF THE DAY: Vice President Joe Biden speaks as Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, Attorney General Eric Holder, and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski listen during an event to discuss the Obama administration’s effort to develop and deploy a “nationwide, interoperable public safety broadband network” on Thursday at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
PHOTO OF THE DAY: Vice President Joe Biden meets Thursday with Massud Barzani, President of Iraq’s Kurdistan region in Arbil. (SAFIN HAMED/AFP/Getty Images)
