Catholic Leaders Backing Cruz’s D.C. Resolution

Roll Call ^ | March 20, 2015a | Bridget Bowman

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Catholic Leaders Backing Cruz’s D.C. Resolution By Bridget Bowman

March 20

Influential Catholic leaders sent a letter to senators Friday urging them to support Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and James Lankford of Oklahoma’s effort to block two D.C. bills.

This week Cruz introduced two joint resolutions of disapproval, with Lankford as a co-sponsor, aimed at striking down the Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Act and the Human Rights Amendment Act, which the D.C. government approved in January. The senators say the bills violate religious freedom, and the Catholic leaders agree.

“In effect, both RHNDA and HRAA would compel religious institutions, faith-based organizations, and pro-life advocacy organizations to engage in certain behavior that seems intended to drive these institutions and organizations out of the District of Columbia,” wrote the leaders, including two of the four U.S. cardinals who lead the U.S. archdioceses. “We note that the Archdiocese of Washington and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops are among the major institutions that could be severely impacted by these measures.”

The signatories included Donald Cardinal Wuerl, the Archbishop of Washington, and Seán Cardinal O’Malley, the Archbishop of Boston, along with three leaders in the U.S. Conference of Bishops. The USCB was part of a coalition of religious and conservative groups that sent a letter to lawmakers on Feb. 5, urging them to strike down the D.C. laws.

The Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Act seeks to prohibit employer discrimination based on reproductive health decisions, but conservatives say it could force employers to act contrary to their religious beliefs. The Human Rights Amendment Act is actually an attempt to undo a 1989 congressional action, which allowed religious educational institutions to “deny, restrict, abridge, or condition” funds, school facilities and services from gay groups. Opponents say it forces religious schools to recognize groups..

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Meanwhile, the Left is HOWLING!