Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., argued today that Roman Catholic and other religious leaders who opposed President Obama's contraception mandate and accomodation simply attempted to impose "an ideological point of view" on Americans rather than express a sincere concern about religious freedom

"I think that really showed their hand," Pelosi said of the opposition to the mandate-with-accomodation that Obama announced. "It wasn't about church and state, it was about an ideological point of view that flies in the face, again, of the respect that we need to  have to have for women, the God-given free will that we have to have responsibility for the role that women's health plays in the lives of their families and in our country, and the strength of women," she said.

Sign Up for the Politics Today newsletter!

Please enter your email address below to begin receiving the Politics Today newsletter.

You must enter a valid email address in the field above!

Thank you for signing up for the Politics Today newsletter! You should receive your first newsletter very soon.

We're sorry, there was an error processing your newsletter signup. Please click here to visit our Newsletter Signup Center to register for this newsletter.

Pelosi characterized the religious opponents of the mandate as saying "we don't want anybody -- any insurance for any employer -- giving insurance to any employee for contraception." 

She also suggested that Roman Catholics lack the moral authority to oppose the contraception mandate given the use of contraception by Catholic laity. "If an overwhelming number of catholic women of childbearing age . . . are practicing birth control," she argued, "then there has to be some message to the church that -- please don't expect employers and insurance companies to enforce an attitude that you have that isn't even accepted by the laity churchgoing people themselves."