Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Democrat candidates in Connecticut favor forcing Catholic hospitals to perform abortions
What Does The Prayer Really Say ^ | 4/22/2012 | Fr John Zuhlsdorf

Posted on 04/22/2012 4:30:50 PM PDT by markomalley

Something we have to remember when considering the Obama Administration’s erosion of the 1st Amendment through the HHS mandate, is the element of what I call “creeping incrementalism”.   Each time some radical thing is proposed, even if it fails, nevertheless bumps the needle just a tad in the radical direction.  Over time, tiny little increments of shift add up to a huge shift.

If the Obama Administration is pushing for Catholic hospitals to distribute contraceptives and abortifacients, perform sterilizations, etc., we know that their next goal is to force Catholic hospitals to perform abortions.

There is an interesting story on the site of a newspaper in Connecticut:

Bishops: Don’t Make Catholic Hospitals Perform Abortions [UPDATE]

When asked during a debate Sunday if they would support, as a concept, a federal law requiring Catholic hospitals to perform abortions, some Democratic Senate candidates indicated they would. The bishops object. [Who was it that took heat for calling the Democrat Party "the party of death"? Was it now-Cardinal Burke?]
By Patrick Barnard and David Gurliacci

On Sunday, some Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate said they’d favor the concept of a federal law requiring even Catholic hospitals to perform abortions. Now, the state’s Catholic bishops are objecting.

Connecticut’s Catholic bishops—including Bishop William Lori, who announced in March that he is leaving the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport to become archbishop of the Baltimore Archdiocese—have issued a statement expressing their dismay after all five Democratic candidates said during Sunday’s “Face the State” debate that they would support legislation forcing Catholic hospitals to perform abortions.

“If it is their [the candidates'] position that our hospitals should be forced by law or regulations to provide abortions in spite of our teaching, it is unfortunate to note their readiness to violate religious liberty,” wrote Archbishop of Hartford Henry Mansell, Archbishop-designate Lori, Bishop Michael Cote of Norwich, and Bishop Paul Chomnycky of the Ukrainian Catholic Diocese of Stamford in the statement issued Monday.

[NB] “Their position would be the logical extension of the federal Health and Human Services regulations with regard to so called ‘preventative services.’”

When asked whether Catholic hospitals should be required to provide contraceptive services and abortions, the candidates replied in various ways, according to the recording of the debate available at the WFSB-TV website (starting at the 5:30 mark).

Lockhart recently wrote on his blog: “Now, before those of you reading this pick a side, please watch the footage, listen carefully to what the candidates did/didn’t say and then draw your own conclusions about whether all five answered in the affirmative.”

Susan Bysiewicz and Matthew Oakes said the federal government has the right to require Catholic hospitals to perform abortions. Chris Murphy seemed to indicate the government should not do that. William Tong also did not give a direct reply, but said, “Access to an abortion should be open and available.” Lee Whitnum said providing contraception services is a good thing, but did not say whether Catholic institutions should be forced to do so.

Here’s the question Lockhart wrote on his blog that he asked: “Mr. Murphy, you were a strong advocate for the Obama administration’s recent decisions regarding contraception coverage for employees of Catholic organizations. The New York Times recently reported that as Catholic hospitals become a greater force within the health care industry there are concerns that women’s access to treatments from abortions to sterilizations will be limited. Should the federal government require Catholic hospitals to provide these services, specifically abortions?

Here are some excerpts of the answers:

Susan Bysiewicz: “The federal government has the right to regulate what services are provided, because Catholic institutions, colleges and universities get funding from the federal government, and I believe that those institutions should provide access to reproductive health care.”
Chris Murphy: “They certainly have the ability to decide what services they perform.”
Matthew Oakes: “If they’re gonna take our money—I’m Roman Catholic—then they need to perform the health care issues that women need performed for them.”
William Tong: “Access to an abortion should be open and available. Acess to contraception, the same thing. These are basic liberties enshrined in our Constitution, in our jurisprudence. That’s a fact. [...] I think we need a cooperative approach. We had a bill in the state Legislature to provide emergency contraception. It was called Plan B. [...] Now Plan B is a reality. Emergency contraception is made available to patients at Catholic hospitals. We just need to find a way to make it work.”
Lee Whitnum did not answer the question about whether the federal government must force Catholic institutions to provide abortion or contraceptive services. She said she supported institutions providing them.



TOPICS: Catholic; Religion & Politics
KEYWORDS: moralabsolutes

1 posted on 04/22/2012 4:30:59 PM PDT by markomalley
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: markomalley

Sick. I hope that the CT Bishops speak out loud & clear.


2 posted on 04/22/2012 4:39:53 PM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: markomalley

Overton window


3 posted on 04/22/2012 4:53:41 PM PDT by jafojeffsurf (Return to the Constitution)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: markomalley

I hope they just shut down in protest. Watch the scramble.


4 posted on 04/22/2012 4:57:33 PM PDT by GeronL (The Right to Life came before the Right to Pursue Happiness)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: markomalley

A total disgrace. This is so egregious to all believers of the Catholic/Christian word. “Thou shall not kill”.


5 posted on 04/22/2012 4:58:06 PM PDT by marygam ((Hurry November 2012, we might not make it))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: markomalley

A total disgrace. This is so egregious to all believers of the Catholic/Christian word. “Thou shall not kill”.


6 posted on 04/22/2012 4:58:11 PM PDT by marygam ((Hurry November 2012, we might not make it))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: markomalley
the element of what I call “creeping incrementalism.

It's more like creeping excrementalism.

7 posted on 04/22/2012 5:13:37 PM PDT by Paleo Conservative
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: markomalley

Watching this.


8 posted on 04/22/2012 5:15:09 PM PDT by Mrs. Don-o ("By all that you hold dear on this good earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: markomalley

Will forcing Jewish daycares centers to offer porkrinds and pickled pigsfeet snacks to to the tiny tykes be far behind?
Gotta be cultural diverse nowadays...


9 posted on 04/22/2012 5:15:30 PM PDT by RedMonqey (Men who will not suffer to self govern, will suffer under the governance of lesser men.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: markomalley

Abort the democrat candidates.


10 posted on 04/22/2012 5:15:33 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (I'd like to tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: markomalley

Catholic hospitals provide about 25% of hospital care. In some areas it is much greater. They also provide a greater proportion of care to Medicaid and the uninsured than other hospitals. I do hope the Bishops stand firm and we will see who blinks first. If Catholic hospitals shut down, private entities will not have the resources to buy many if not most of them because, hospital margins are small, and Catholic hospitals also rely on charitable enowments. The government could try to take them over, but this would be worse than bailing out the car companies. Just think how bad the access would be if the Catholic hospitals closed down.


11 posted on 04/22/2012 5:17:57 PM PDT by grumpygresh (Democrats delenda est; zero sera dans l'enfer bientot.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: markomalley

What do Catholic owe to the Democrat liberals anyway?

You cannot be a serious practicing Catholic (or Mormon, or Presbyterian, or even a Bible thumping Baptist) and a liberal Democrat at the same time.

And if the Islamists could look beyond the obvious socialist message long enough, they would see the secular socialists are not their allies either - what with all the concerns with making the workplace and the streets safe for those who practice perversions of moral character (i.e., drug use, sexual depravity, generally unclean habits of dress and conversation), the Islamists would execute their former comrades without a moment’s hesitation.


12 posted on 04/22/2012 5:19:03 PM PDT by alloysteel (It is hard to get a man to understand, when his pay depends upon his not understanding something.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: markomalley

As was expected. Now the Bishops need to decide if they are willing to go to jail for their refusal to comply. I’m thinking that if enough folks see these men standing against such an assault on Religious Liberty by the Fed. Govt., it might just change their attitudes about the Govt. in general and Obamacare in particular.


13 posted on 04/22/2012 5:44:56 PM PDT by SuziQ
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: markomalley; 185JHP; 230FMJ; AKA Elena; APatientMan; Albion Wilde; Aleighanne; Alexander Rubin; ...
Moral Absolutes Ping!

Freepmail wagglebee to subscribe or unsubscribe from the moral absolutes ping list.

FreeRepublic moral absolutes keyword search
[ Add keyword moral absolutes to flag FR articles to this ping list ]

Important article for any and all conservatives. This point is essential for understanding why leftism needs to be fought very vigorously and NO compromise. Someone may say, "well, isn't a bit late for that?". My answer - it's never too late. In fact, it's high time to fight back.

And the following quote is applicable not just to the 0bomba administration, but all leftists/communists/socialists/culture of death-ists/democrats etc.

Something we have to remember when considering the Obama Administration’s erosion of the 1st Amendment through the HHS mandate, is the element of what I call “creeping incrementalism”. Each time some radical thing is proposed, even if it fails, nevertheless bumps the needle just a tad in the radical direction. Over time, tiny little increments of shift add up to a huge shift.

14 posted on 04/22/2012 6:39:56 PM PDT by little jeremiah (We will have to go through hell to get out of hell. Signed, a fanatic)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: grumpygresh
Dr. Marc Siegel was on FNC recently talking about how Obamacare will ruin the healthcare in the country because there won't be enough doctors to see people--and he wasn't even factoring in the impact of the Obama war on the Catholic Church, if they carry it to the point where the Catholic hospitals are forced to close.

The only thing that might make them stop before that point is if they are just doing it for votes--they may feel they have shown enough zeal to please their base and they were forced to give in to the bad guys (the people who cling to their God or their guns). But it could be that this is so central to their thinking that they can't compromise even if it hurts them in the election.

15 posted on 04/22/2012 7:31:59 PM PDT by Verginius Rufus
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

“....if they are going to take our money.....” The government has no money except for what it extorts from taxpayers. Christians are taxpayers. It is wrong—tyranny, actually—to compel people of faith to murder innocent unborn children simply because money extorted from believers is recycled in the form of Medicaid or Medicare payments. If the Democrats attempt to crush religious liberty in this manner, the government will have lost all legitimacy. If that happens, the consequences don’t bear thinking about. God help us!


16 posted on 04/22/2012 8:49:56 PM PDT by Godwin1
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: alloysteel
"What do Catholic owe to the Democrat liberals anyway?"

I spent twenty-five years asking conservative Christian Southern folks exactly what they owed the democrat party before they started to actually take the question seriously.

Many of them, a lot of them now passed on, refused to stop voting democrat, giving money to the democrat party, and working hard for the democrat party, their entire lives. When Clinton was elected I remember one such diehard telling me, "you watch, he'll roll back all this liberal s**t and take the democrat party back from Kennedy and his crowd". I can't explain why some people are that way about the democrat party but they are.

I don't know what else the democrat fascist party could do to make it clear that they don't want Catholics or any other Christians who actually believe in Christ. There are folks I know who hate every candidate the democrat party has had locally and nationally for the past twenty years but who still insist that the democrat party will turn around and that they need to be in the party when that happens.

17 posted on 04/22/2012 10:29:39 PM PDT by Rashputin (Only Newt can defeat both the Fascist democrats and the Vichy GOP)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: GeronL
I hope they just shut down in protest.

Likely what they want. The more confusion and grief that they can cause, the happier they are. Don't think for a moment that they care about the "little people", because they don't. What the Catholics should do is keep operating without complying. When they come, if they come, to shut them down they should be surrounded with 1,000s of peoples with guns. If they want to shut them down, stop them, all over the Country. Don't let them. Like most bullies, actually confronted, they may well back down. In the least people will be appalled by them and more will come out against them. We should not be naive, they may fight and have places ready to take us to lock us up. We need to be extremely smart and try to and with God's help win.

18 posted on 04/23/2012 1:21:44 AM PDT by Bellflower (The LORD is Holy, separated from all sin, perfect, righteous, high and lifted up.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: markomalley

DONT TAKE FEDERAL MONEY,Or you open yourself up to tyranny


19 posted on 04/23/2012 3:43:00 AM PDT by ballplayer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: markomalley

Pretty much confirms that the whole Obama “contracepetion” mandate is really all about forcing everyone to subsidize, and in the case of Catholic hospitals, provide abortion.


20 posted on 04/23/2012 4:50:44 AM PDT by circlecity
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson