Notre Dame does about-face on birth control. It will allow free coverage for employees.

The golden dome atop the main administration building at the University of Notre Dame is visible in this photo.

The University Notre Dame has changed course on the issue of free birth control. It said Tuesday that employees and staff will not lose such coverage at the end of the year.

It's a major reversal from Notre Dame's stance from just a week ago, when it reportedly said it would end birth control coverage for staff and students in 2018. Its move then to end coverage followed the Trump administration's decision in early October to make it easier for employers to refuse to provide insurance coverage for certain birth control methods based on moral objections to contraception.

Notre Dame had long fought the birth control mandate portion of the Affordable Care Act, citing religious freedom.

But this week, the Catholic University changed its mind after an onslaught of criticism, national press and social media attention, and threatened lawsuits from groups representing students, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

University employees were informed Tuesday that Meritain Health/OptumRx would continue next year to provide contraceptive coverage to employees in the health plan free of charge.

According to the South Bend Tribune, Notre Dame's human resource department sent an email that said: "Meritain Health/OptumRx have advised that they will now continue to provide contraceptives to plan members at no charge."

In its email, the university reaffirmed its opposition to birth control on religious grounds. But it also said it recognized employees have diverse beliefs and it would not interfere with the third-party health-care coverage — even while stressing that it would not be providing the coverage itself.

Here's more from Notre Dame's statement Tuesday:

"The University of Notre Dame, as a Catholic Institution, follows Catholic teaching about the use of contraceptives and engages in the recent lawsuit to protect its freedom to act in accord with its principles. Recognizing, however, the plurality of religious and other convictions among its employees, it will not interfere with the provision of contraceptives that will be administered and funded independently of the University."

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In 2013, Notre Dame and others sued to block the mandate in the Affordable Care Act that required large employers to offer health insurance that included birth control and other reproductive services, or pay a penalty.

The Supreme Court decided in 2014 that the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, couldn't require employers to offer insurance coverage for certain birth control methods they equate with abortion. But the ruling didn't apply to religiously affiliated nonprofit employers, such as hospitals and universities. 

Notre Dame is continuing to challenge that ruling, even as the Supreme Court returned the case to the U.S. District Court level to give the parties an opportunity to reach a settlement.

However, university employees and students had received no-cost contraception coverage since 2013, under a compromise Notre Dame had reached with the federal government that allowed religious objectors to opt out of paying for the birth control mandate. That cost of that coverage had instead been shared by the government and the insurer.

Still, this week's quick reversal of Notre Dame's initial decision to end that agreement was surprising.

According to Indiana Public Media, Notre Dame had just sent out letters to staff and students on Oct. 27, informing them of the end of such coverage at the end of the plan year next year. According to that report, coverage would have ended for faculty and staff on Dec. 31; students would have lost their coverage on Aug. 14.

Father John Jenkins, president of the university, had welcomed the federal government's decision in early October to add broad exemptions for religious and moral objectors to the health care mandate. Jenkins said then that "critical issues of religious freedom were at stake."

Coverage for Notre Dame students also had been provided separately from the university. However, there is no word yet from that provider, Aetna, on whether it would reverse its position, too.

USA TODAY reporters Maureen Groppe and Jayne O'Donnell contributed to this story.

Call IndyStar digital producer Dwight Adams at (317) 444-6532. Follow him on Twitter: @hdwightadams.

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