Health care in the United States is undergoing a sea change thanks to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.[1] Among the many firsts: employers that offer health insurance must cover certain preventive services for women, including contraception.[2] This requirement—often called the "contraception mandate"—has generated a huge outcry, especially from the U.S. Catholic hierarchy.[3] Although churches, synagogues, mosques, and other religious institutions that predominately serve and employ people of their own faith are exempt, religiously affiliated institutions that serve and employ people of many different faiths—such as schools, hospitals, and social services providers—are not.[4] It is the lack of an exemption for the latter organizations that has generated protests.

