His revised mandate, announced Friday, exempts religious organizations from covering birth control and instead compels insurance companies to offer the coverage.

Regardless of what many bishops are arguing, Obama’s modified mandate gives women an option without forcing religious organizations to condone birth control.

Although his changes were a compromise to address the concerns raised by officials in the Catholic community, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops still disagrees with his revision, claiming the coverage offers an outlet for women to obtain free contraception pills.

The original mandate compelled religious organizations to provide their members with a pill they didn’t believe in. If the Catholic religion wants to discourage female members from using birth control, they have every right to, and the revised mandate is not making religious leaders compromise those beliefs.

However, if women want to use birth control, they will find a way to get it whether it’s covered by insurance or not. Ninety-nine percent of sexually active women have used contraceptives and 98 percent of sexually active Catholic women have used a form of birth control. Catholic women should not be denied the same access to contraceptive pills as the rest of American women, and Obama’s mandate opens up an avenue for them to be offered an equal opportunity to obtain birth control coverage.

Fifty-eight percent of American Catholics, along with 55 percent of all Americans, agree with Obama’s mandate and believe birth control should be covered by health insurance. It is the duty of insurance to provide its customers with the coverage of the pills and medicine they require — birth control included.

Although the insurance offered through religious organizations will provide Catholic women with the means of getting free birth control, it is not being paid for by the same leaders who preach against it.

Obama’s revision offers a balance between personal beliefs of citizens and religious leaders. The changes address the complaints of religiously affiliated organizations regarding his original mandate, and he has given them a fair alternative to the coverage of contraceptions. Leaders of the Catholic Church still have problems with the coverage of birth control, but that isn’t an issue that should be addressed by the government.

The Catholic Church can’t specify which aspects of insurance its employees might or might not receive. This reconciliation offers a better option for the government, religiously affiliated organizations and, most importantly, the women as individuals.