Abortion

Ave Maria University's president said the government has bullied religious institutions with the birth-control requirement for insurance plans.

"They're having a panel on women's health, and they don't have any women on the panel – duh!" Pelosi said.

Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) and more than 20 other House Republicans have proposed legislation that would cut federal funding to elementary and secondary schools that provide students with access to emergency contraception, like the morning-after pill.

The bill amends the General Education Provisions Act by adding a new section that limits federal funds to schools that either distribute or provide access to the morning-after pill or other contraception, which some see as causing abortions, or enter into contracts with other entities that provide this access.

Rep. Marsha Backburn (R-Tenn.) is taking the lead in asking Congress to double down in its investigation of Planned Parenthood.

In a letter to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), the Energy and Commerce Committee member is asking for a "full-scale series of congressional hearings to expose the damage Planned Parenthood has caused to our nation."

The letter comes after an anti-abortion-rights group issued a report on Tuesday that accuses the nation's largest abortion provider of "waste, abuse and potential fraud." The report is aimed at fueling calls for investigatory hearings by the House Energy and Commerce Oversight panel, which launched a probe into Planned Parenthood last year.

The GOP senator said Thursday that while he disagreed with the policy, the debate over the issue was overheated.

Senate Republicans are pushing legislation to overturn a mandate that health plans of religious organizations cover contraception. 

Republican senators on Wednesday continued to raise the pressure on President Obama to repeal his administration's mandate that religiously affiliated health insurance plans cover birth control without co-pays or deductibles.

Republicans are calling the regulation an "unprecedented" affront to religious freedom. Senate GOP leaders attacked the mandate during their daily press conference after House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) made the same demand during a rare speech on the House floor Wednesday morning.

"What the administration has done is really unprecedented," said Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.). "I would call on the president to overturn these Health and Human Services regulations, to stop [his attacks] on religious freedom and to really change the direction of what we have seen."

Freshman Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) warned on Tuesday that the Obama administration's refusal to exempt religious-affiliated employers from a rule forcing them to provide healthcare plans that include coverage for contraception is “unconstitutional” and could lead to the erosion of Americans’ rights. 

A coalition of 23 religious groups lent its support Wednesday to the Obama administration's new birth-control mandate, which is under fire from Republicans as an attack on religious freedom.

It's a jolt of support for the White House and follows new polling this week that said a majority of voters, including Catholics, support the new policy. Still, the issue has become a headache for the administration amid fierce attacks from the GOP and comments from campaign adviser David Axelrod that indicated the White House was open to a compromise.

The groups lending their support Wednesday include several explicitly pro-choice organizations, such as Catholics for Choice and Concerned Clergy for Choice. The coalition includes Christian, Jewish and Muslim organizations.

Karen Handel said she continues to believe the decision was the best one for Komen's future.