Boehner wants Feds to back off decision

WASHINGTON - House Speaker John Boehner says the Obama administration should reconsider a decision to make church-affiliated employers cover birth control on their health care plans.
  
The Ohio Republican says the regulation amounts to a government mandate that violates the Constitution.
  
The decision outraged religious groups, who said it would force them to buy something that violates their faith tenets.
  
President Barack Obama's health care overhaul included the regulation with narrow exemptions for churches that serve only fellow believers. But last month, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said nonprofit institutions, such as church-affiliated hospitals, colleges and social service agencies, will have to comply, though they will have an additional year to do so.
  
Boehner told reporters Thursday he hopes the administration will "back up" and reconsider the decision.