The USCCB weighs in on the "religious employer" exemption to the contraception-coverage mandate

Anthony Picarello and Michael Moses -- both of whom are strongly committed to, and learned regarding, religious freedom -- have submitted, from the USCCB's Office of General Counsel, a detailed and comprehensive comments-letter regarding the Administration's proposed "interim final rule" (??) on "preventative services", that is, to the proposed requirement that employee-health-care plans include coverage for contraception and sterilization procedures.  Among other things, the letter highlights the "religious-gerrymander" dimension of the mandate (i.e., the fact that the effect of the mandate, though not targeted explicitly at Catholic institutions, is almost entirely on Catholic institutions) and notes that, putting aside the First Amendment, the mandate-with-very-narrow-exemptions probably violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

I am unable to identify reasons -- other than indifference (or worse) to the religious-freedom interests of Catholic institutions -- for the Administration to resist the call by the USCCB (and others, like CUA's Prof. Stephen Schneck, who is a supporter of the A.C.A. as a general matter) for a more accommodating exemption.