WASHINGTON: The US President, Barack Obama, has retreated from a culture war with America's Christian right, agreeing to amend his health care system so Roman Catholic organisations do not have to buy the morning-after pill for employees.

Amid claims from Rick Santorum, the conservative Republican presidential hopeful, that he was leading the country down a path ending in ''the guillotine'' for persecuted Christians, the President agreed to allow religious groups to omit contraception from staff health insurance packages.

''Religious liberty will be protected,'' Mr Obama said. But he insisted: ''No woman's health should depend on who she is, or where she works, or what her health is or how much money she makes.''

Under the adjusted scheme, health insurance companies will be forced to provide contraception free of charge to women who work for religious schools, hospitals or charities that object to doing so as part of employees' health cover. Churches were always exempt.

The US Catholic Health Association welcomed Mr Obama's about-turn, stating that it ''responded to the issues we identified that needed to be fixed''.

What a White House aide called Mr Obama's ''accommodation'' came after more than a week of condemnation by Catholic bishops across the US and pressure from Republican leaders.

Telegraph, London