House conservatives pushed Republican leaders to attach a provision to the government funding bill that would let some employers opt out of covering contraception for employees.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) opposed the language and Democrats ultimately kept Republicans from including it in the funding measure, congressional sources told Politico.

Reps. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Diana DeGette (D-CO) wrote a letter to House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) urging him to keep such provisions out of the measure to fund the government.

“This kind of political maneuvering – using must-pass legislation to accomplish a ‘wish list’ of one faction of Congress and risking a government shutdown – is precisely the kind of behavior the American people detest. We urge you in the strongest possible terms to keep any appropriations legislation considered before the close of the 113th Congress free from ideological policy riders,” they wrote.