While President Barack Obama tamped down some of the fiery opposition to his birth control mandate on Friday, the embers of opposition still glow hot.
In an effort to stop a political wildfire that threatened to consume his re-election campaign, particularly among Catholics, Obama announced a "compromise" that would require insurance companies, rather than religious-based entities such as charities, universities and hospitals, to provide birth control to women free of charge.
But there are a few wrinkles sure to fuel continued criticism.
Even if religious entities under the new Obama plan won't be paying for contraception directly, they likely will object to paying premiums to insurance companies for services that go against their beliefs.
And Obama's compromise still leaves a problem for those religious schools, hospitals and charities that are self-insured. It appears they still would be required directly to provide contraception to women, despite the principles of their faith.
Catholic bishops said Friday night that Obama's new plan "continues to involve needless government intrusion in the internal governance of religious institutions."
We expect we will hear those complaints and many more in the coming weeks and months.
Obama helped fend off some of the criticism with his Friday announcement. But that doesn't mean he still won't get burned by the birth control mandate.
