Karen Heller: What? Birth control? Again?

Here we are in 2012 curing many types of cancer, owning tiny phones that do terrific things, listening to a presidential candidate propose a colony on the moon, and we're still debating birth control?

The Obama administration's Affordable Care Act, which goes into effect in August, required employer health insurance plans, including those of church-affiliated universities, hospitals, and charities, to offer contraception at no cost.

Religious leaders launched a holy war, led by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. "Never before has the federal government forced individuals and organizations to go out into the marketplace and buy a product that violates their conscience," said Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan. Pope Benedict XVI warned of "the grave threats to the Church's public moral witness presented by a radical secularism which finds increasing expression in the political and cultural spheres." Political conservatives, particularly those running for office, jumped into the fray.

President Obama offered a compromise Friday: If religious employers object, they won't be mandated to offer contraception. Instead, insurance companies would be required to do so free of charge. Obama said: "Every woman should be in control of the decisions that affect her own health. Period." Still, some church leaders vowed to continue their fight.

Most people employed, attending, or using church-affiliated institutions don't have objections to contraception. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D., Conn.), "a committed Catholic," observed that the coverage "will reduce health costs, end long-standing gender discrimination in prescription-drug coverage, and further enable women to lead healthier lives."

Virtually all women, including 98 percent of Catholic women, have used some form of contraception banned by the Vatican. Last April, the Guttmacher Institute noted: "The debate over contraception has long been settled in real-life America."

Ha! Who says we're living in real-life America?

Here are two things on which I think everyone can agree:

1. People, including Catholics, have sex.

2. Sex, without contraception, can lead to unintended pregnancies.

Conservatives should love, love, love contraception. Birth control is smart business and cost-effective, a powerful weapon in combating poverty, lowering health costs, reducing abortions, allowing couples to have children when they're ready, while enriching the economy with more working women.