Manchin Voices Concern In Letter To President

{Washington, D.C.}...In a letter sent Friday to President Barack Obama, Senator Joe Manchin voiced concern over the administration's plan to require religious employers to cover birth control. Under President Obama's health care overhaul law, most employers and insurance plans will have to cover birth control free of charge as a preventive service for women. The administration had already ruled that churches and houses of worship do not have to follow that requirement, but officials recently announced that many religious-affiliated institutions such as hospitals, colleges and charities must comply. Senator Manchin called the mandate "un-American." He said that he's heard from West Virginia employers that would be forced to violate their religious beliefs. Manchin is asking Obama to exempt any religious institutions that object to the use of contraceptive drugs.