President Obama last week announced a reasonable solution that will assure women have free access to contraceptives, while not forcing religious groups that object to them, most particularly the Catholic Church, to pay through employee insurance plans.

Following the recommendations of the Institute of Medicine, the Department of Health and Human Services announced recently that birth control pills and contraceptive services would be among the preventive health services that insurance plans must provide under the Affordable Care Act.

Recognizing the church's moral opposition to the use of contraceptives, the order exempted churches and their religious employees. Yet it included Catholic hospitals, universities and charitable organizations, with the administration noting they employ and serve people of other faiths. Yet church leaders objected, and we agreed, that forcing the church to underwrite at these institutions a practice it considered wrong for reasons of faith was a dangerous impingement on religious freedom.

The president's solution is to require insurance companies that sell policies to these institutions to provide contraception coverage free if requested by employees. The church will not have to pay for coverage of services it objects to; women will get access to care; and insurance companies will benefit because prevention is less expensive than unintended pregnancies.

Catholic Charities and the Catholic Health Association, which represents Catholic hospitals, welcomed the policy change as one they can live with.

However, the U.S. Conference of Catholics Bishops was not satisfied. They oppose any federal mandate requiring insurance policies in these institutions to provide women workers free access to birth control, regardless of who pays.

"Rescind the mandate of these objectionable services," read the organization's statement.

That position is unreasonable and we suspect the vast majority of American Catholics, who do not consider access to birth control an objectionable service, will side with the president on this count.

As for the president's opponents who plan to keep criticizing the mandate, they should realize they do so at their own political peril.