Posted on 07/14/2015 2:41:10 PM PDT by NYer
.- The Little Sisters of the Poor have reiterated their commitment to following their conscience as they care for the poor and dying, following a federal appeals court ruling that they must obey the federal contraception mandate.
“As Little Sisters of the Poor, we simply cannot choose between our care for the elderly poor and our faith,” said Mother Provincial Sr. Loraine Marie Maguire.
“And we should not have to make that choice, because it violates our nation’s commitment to ensuring that people from diverse faiths can freely follow God’s calling in their lives. For over 175 years, we have served the neediest in society with love and dignity. All we ask is to be able to continue our religious vocation free from government intrusion.”
Sr. Maguire responded to a Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling against the Little Sisters of the Poor on July 14.
The sisters are among several hundred plaintiffs that have challenged the federal contraception mandate, which requires employers to offer health insurance plans covering contraception, sterilization and some drugs that can cause early abortions.
Employers who fail to comply with the mandate face crippling penalties. In the case of the Little Sisters, the fines could amount to around $2.5 million a year, or about 40 percent of the $6 million the Sisters beg for annually to run their ministry.
Met with a wave of protest, the contraception mandate has undergone a number of revisions. However, the sisters say that it still requires them to violate their beliefs.
Because the Little Sisters of the Poor are not affiliated with a particular house of worship, they do not qualify for the religious exemption to the mandate. The federal government has argued that it has sufficiently provided for the religious freedom of the Little Sisters and other religious organizations through an “accommodation” under which the faith-based employers can pass the burden of providing the objectionable coverage to insurers, who must then offer it directly to employees without cost.
The government says that providing contraception coverage is ultimately free for insurance companies, because birth control results in better health for women and lower pregnancy rates, resulting in lower overall costs for insurers.
Critics, however, reject this claim, arguing that the costs of the coverage will ultimately be handed on to the employer in some way. Several religious organizations have also said that they still object to signing a form that passes the burden of providing the objectionable content to another party.
The Tenth Circuit Court ruled that because the Little Sisters had the option of signing the form, they failed to show that the mandate required a substantial burden on their free exercise of religion.
Last year, the Little Sisters had received temporary protection from the mandate under two orders from the U.S. Supreme Court – one order from the full court and the other from Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who oversees the section of the country where the sisters’ case originated. The orders had protected the Little Sisters from mandate penalties while their case was working its way through the court system.
The Supreme Court has also rule directly on the mandate. In June 2014, it struck down the mandate as it applied to Hobby Lobby and other closely-held for-profit companies.
In its July 14 decision, the Tenth Circuit said that the Hobby Lobby reasoning did not apply in the Little Sisters’ case because they were a non-profit and therefore fell under the terms of the “accommodation,” which were not offered to Hobby Lobby as a for-profit company.
The Tenth Circuit’s order also applies to Christian Brothers Services and Christian Brothers Employee Benefit Trust, the Catholic organizations through which the Little Sisters obtain their health coverage.
“We’re disappointed with today’s decision,” said Mark Rienzi, senior counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is helping to defend the Little Sisters in court.
“After losing repeatedly at the Supreme Court, the government continues its unrelenting pursuit of the Little Sisters of the Poor,” he continued. “It is a national embarrassment that the world’s most powerful government insists that, instead of providing contraceptives through its own existing exchanges and programs, it must crush the Little Sisters’ faith and force them to participate.”
“Untold millions of people have managed to get contraceptives without involving nuns, and there is no reason the government cannot run its programs without hijacking the Little Sisters and their health plan,” Rienzi said.
The Becket Fund said that the Little Sisters and their attorneys are looking into the possibility of appealing the ruling to the Supreme Court.
The Little Sisters of the Poor are an international congregation of Roman Catholic women religious founded in 1839 by Saint Jeanne Jugan. Together with a diverse network of collaborators, we serve the elderly poor in over 30 countries around the world.
Continuing the work of Saint Jeanne Jugan, our MISSION is to offer the neediest elderly of every race and religion a home where they will be welcomed as Christ, cared for as family and accompanied with dignity until God calls them to himself.
Our VISION is to contribute to the Culture of Life by nurturing communities where each person is valued, the solidarity of the human family and the wisdom of age are celebrated, and the compassionate love of Christ is shared with all.
Our VALUES
REVERENCE for the sacredness of human life and for the uniqueness of
each person, especially those who are poorest and/or weakest. This is
reflected in care that is holistic and person-centered.
FAMILY SPIRIT: a spirit of joyful hospitality embracing all with open arms, hearts and minds; fostering participation in the life of the home and rejecting all forms of discrimination.
HUMBLE SERVICE: the desire to raise others up and to put their needs before our own; an appreciation of simple, everyday tasks and experiences and humble means in accomplishing our work.
COMPASSION: empathy for sharing the weaknesses and sufferings of others; eagerness to relieve pain in all its forms and to make the elderly happy.
STEWARDSHIP: the recognition that life and all other goods are gifts from God and should therefore be used responsibly for the good of all; trust in God’s Providence and the generosity of others to provide for our needs; just compensation for our collaborators; a spirit of gratitude and sharing.
Catholic ping!
By turning itself into a wholly volunteer body with no more “employees” could the charity avert the problem?
It seems the “employee” status is the rub.
And not associated with a particular house of worship? I don’t understand, why does it have to be, that seems arbitrary. It is tied to the Roman Catholic denomination and that ought to do as well as one tied to Lutherans or Presbyterians or Muslims or whatever.
That’s an interesting suggestion. I wonder if it could legally be done? I don’t think the sisters themselves receive salaries. But lay people who have mortgages to pay, families to support, and debts to pay off, would have to be compensated somehow to get the equivalent of whatever they’re getting now: I don’t know how you could claim such a person is not an employee.
Just another example of BIG government being a BULLY. Are not they the ones who are always lecturing us on why we should not be bullies?
Maybe the government should force their employees to take diversity training on tolerance! Bad Bad Bad employees of the BIG government abusing Little Sisters of the Poor!
Disobey sisters. The administration of this country has lost its claim to validity.
Maybe a multiple-charity system where part, per donor designation, goes to benefit the charity agents (trying not to say workers)?
I do know that some evangelical congregations take love offerings. Could something along those lines occur here.
Once we realize there’s an agenda backed by a sophisticated, wide-spread system that controls every facet of government, we’re realize this outcome was never in question. Then, we’ll stop trying to fight outcomes like this with methods that are designed to fail.
Post 5 has some good observations. Now days there aren’t many major religious apostolates run solely with the work of religious and part time volunteers. Specialists are needed to tackle all sorts of things.
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Have Satan’s demons indwelt every judge in the country?
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No. You’re talking as if the law matters. Like, “if we just legally structure ourselves in such a way that we avoid this law and we utilize that loophole.” All of that will be shut down because the law is not the agenda. Defeating Christianity as an influence is the agenda. Completing Marx’s cultural evolution is the agenda.
Specialists can volunteer too.
Well you can sing the total demoralized defeat song if you want to, but what courage is that. Sounds like a member of Satan’s cheer leading squad, even while stating as an excuse others who are on it.
One thing at a time.
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I hear you.
What happened to the “all good means, all good men” dictum. I hate concern trolling.
Claim them as contractors, not employees.
We are fighting a losing game. We cannot win fighting this way. We spend all our time fighting a game with rules that prevent us from winning because the rules keep changing to suite the other side. That doesn’t make me a coward or a quitter. I still don’t know why this doesn’t make sense to people.
They’re playing checkers and making us play chess. We keep playing and saying, “we’re going to beat you this time.”
Just ignore it.
John 15:12
This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you.
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