Battling Over Birth Control For years, there has been a large debate over whether or not birth control should be free through insurance companies. Many people feel that making birth control more readily available to the public that both the unintended pregnancy rates and abortion rates will drastically decrease. In an article from The New York Times, this issue is discussed in greater detail. The article also focuses on the recent mandate passed by Obama stating that, “all insurers must cover [contraceptives] without a deductible or co-payment beginning next year” (Battling 1) as well as the arguments against this mandate. In order to convince the reader that this mandate is necessary, the author uses strong logos and ethos, as well as stating his own opinions. The author successfully sets up his argument by using a strong basis of logos including facts, quotes, and statistics. In the beginning of the article, the author clearly states the purpose of this most recent mandate presented by Obama’s administration and makes it clear that he supports it. He then goes on to talk about the controversy over the mandate, specifically when dealing with religious leaders such as Roman Catholic bishops. This topic also deals with the ethos side of this article; however, the basic facts still fall under the category of logos. On top of basic facts, the author also uses some quotes such as, “Americans of all religious faiths overwhelmingly suppose broad access to birth control” (Battling 2). Quotes such as this help to support the overall opinion of the author. Because of the way that this article is set up, the reader has a very clear understanding of this topic, even if they were previously unaware of the issue. This is an excellent use of logos by the author. This article deals a lot with ethos as well as logos. The entire issue of this article has to do with religious faiths speaking up against the new mandate for free contraceptives. Roman Catholic leaders feel as though this mandate will go against their beliefs. They are calling for an exemption from this mandate for any employees that work for businesses that are associated to religious organizations. The issue with this exemption is that even though these businesses may be associated with religious organizations, they also often serve the general public. In addition to this, it will also impose church doctrine on women who do not agree with the church’s stand on birth control. It is apparent that this entire article deals directly with ethos simply because of the issue at hand. If a reader has a strong opinion on this aspect of religion, they will be more likely to form a strong opinion on the issue of free birth control. The last strategy that the author uses to convince his audience is his own opinions. Throughout the article, the author slips in phrases or sentences that demonstrate how much he favors this mandate that Obama has