Mariner, you’re hitting key points. This cannot be merely a matter of Obama and the bishops “refining” or “negotiating” or “compromising” or “reshaping” a few clauses of Obamacare. This cannot be a small legal issue, or even a large moral issue. True, it’s a moral issue for Catholics, but even that is missing the point.
This is a BIG issue for ALL Americans because it is a Constitutional issue. It is a very clear and simple matter of the Federal Govt grossly and unprecedentedly violating the First Amendment.
I hope the bishops have the vision and courage to fight on those grounds, otherwise we will all lose. May gain some temporary concession (ha, remember Stupak?) but it’s not enough. We need Obama to acknowledge, and if not him, the highest Court in the land, that no president or govt agency may order a valid religious organization to violate their spiritual beliefs.
“We need Obama to acknowledge, and if not him, the highest Court in the land, that no president or govt agency may order a valid religious organization to violate their spiritual beliefs.”
Yes, we need that. The trouble is that, right now, the law of the land gives him that authority. It’s an unconstitutional law, but getting it recognized as unconstitutional and repealing it . . . . we have to try, but possession is nine-tenths of the law. Right now Sebelius possesses enormous authority granted her by Obamacare.