D. Michael McCarron, executive director of the Florida Catholic Conference, in a memo released on April 13, pointed out that the proposed legislation "has the effect of forcing insurers to engage in activity that may violate a deeply held conscientious belief and we see this as a violation of their human rights and an abuse of government by imposing such a law. These conscientious moral convictions may or may not be based on religious belief.

"To exempt religious organizations and those with whom they would contract for coverage from this law is insufficient. Additional language is needed providing that nothing in the act shall require an insurer regulated under it to provide coverage for any prescription or contraception if the insurer or policy holder objects on religious or moral grounds. Further, language is needed to clarify that failure to provide coverage for prescription oral contraceptives based on religious or moral grounds must not be the basis for any claim for damages or recriminatory or discriminatory action against an insurer or policy holder.

"The bill does provide that nothing in this act shall be construed to require coverage for chemically induced abortions, but this does not entirely eliminate the concern of some insurers and policy holders because the bill requires coverage for oral contraceptives approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration. Drugs such as Norplant, Depo-Provera and the low-dose estrogen pill [morning after pill] sometimes act not by preventing ovulation or fertilization, but by preventing the embryo from implanting in the womb. Many, some on the basis of religious conviction and others for different reasons, object to an act which destroys the newly conceived embryo by preventing implantation in the womb. To address these concerns would require an amendment specifically excluding from mandated coverage any drug or device which interferes with the development of an embryo after fertilization.

"Conscience protection should accommodate and respect these concerns and no one should be forced to pay for or provide procedures to which they object based on religious belief or moral conviction."