WASHINGTON (CNS) — A White House spokesman said the Obama administration is working to “strike the right balance between expanding coverage of preventive services and respecting religious beliefs” as it decides on a religious exemption to the mandate that all health plans cover contraceptives and sterilizations by Jan. 1, 2013.

“This decision has not yet been made,” said Jay Carney, press secretary, in response to a question at the Nov. 29 White House press briefing.

Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, announced an interim final rule Aug. 1 that would require all health plans to cover contraceptives — including some that can cause abortions — and sterilizations free of charge. Only religious employers meeting four criteria would be exempt from the mandate.

Those requirements are that the organization “(1) has the inculcation of religious values as its purpose; (2) primarily employs persons who share its religious tenets; (3) primarily serves persons who share its religious tenets; and (4) is a nonprofit organization” under specific sections of the Internal Revenue Code.

Leaders of various Catholic and other faith-based organizations have protested the exemption as too narrow and have said such a mandate could force them to stop offering some social services, education or health care to the general public.

A 60-day comment period on the proposed religious exemption ended Sept. 30 and a final decision was expected from HHS by the end of the year. In the meantime, the contraceptive mandate as an “interim final rule,” as the federal government terms it, has “the full force and effect of law.”

After any such comment period, a federal agency could issue a revised final rule “or confirm the interim rule as final.”