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'Accounting gimmick' -- Obama compromise still threatens religious liberty, leaders say
Baptist Press ^ | Feb 10, 2012 | Michael Foust

Posted on 02/10/2012 3:20:16 PM PST by Kukai

WASHINGTON (BP) -- President Obama Friday announced a change in the way that employees of religious organizations will receive free contraceptives that can cause abortions, but it fell far short of what is needed to protect religious liberty, say religious and conservative leaders.

The controversy began when the Department of Health and Human Services in January finalized a rule requiring private insurance plans to cover all FDA-approved contraceptives, including "emergency" ones such as Plan B and "ella" that can block implantation and kill the embryo -- an action that pro-life groups and many Christians view as an early abortion. The drugs would be free for employees.

The HHS rule included an exemption for most churches, but that exemption does not cover Christian colleges and schools or faith-based hospitals and social service programs. Programs such as Catholic Charities, Prison Fellowship and the Southern Baptist Convention's GuideStone Financial Resources would be affected. GuideStone's president released a statement before Obama's press conference saying simply, "we will not provide abortive contraceptives."

Obama said Friday that the burden on providing emergency contraceptives would fall on insurance companies, and that the coverage still would be free.

"If a woman's employer is a charity or a hospital that has a religious objection to providing contraceptive services as part of their health plan, the insurance company -- not the hospital, not the charity -- will be required to reach out and offer the woman contraceptive care free of charge without co-pays and without hassles," Obama said. "The result will be that religious organizations won't have to pay for these services and no religious institution will have to provide these services."

Religious leaders, though, were not pleased, and said the same problems with religious liberty remained.

"It is an attempt to deal with a matter of religious conviction with an accounting gimmick," Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, told Baptist Press.

Land and others said that an insurance company's money is fungible, and that a religious employer would still be providing the funding to pay for an employees' abortion-inducing drugs.

O.S. Hawkins, president of GuideStone Financial Recourses, called it an "approach that does not address the issues at hand for Southern Baptists who oppose so-called contraceptives that can and do cause an abortion." GuideStone provides health insurance coverage to 60,000 people, including pastors and missionaries.

"The President's statement today," said Hawkins, "is an insulting affront illustrating a basic lack of understanding that this issue will not be solved by sleight-of-hand word games. It is a fundamental matter of religious liberty that threatens the very coverage of those dedicated persons who serve our churches and affiliated organizations. GuideStone will never depart from the core convictions it has held dear for decades regarding the sanctity of life."

Obama's statement does "not take into account the needs of many of the oldest and largest church plans in the nation," GuideStone said.

(GuideStone's full statement follows this story.)

Said Land, "Obama showed a total lack of awareness of self-funded insurance programs like GuideStone. ... GuideStone cannot comply with this, because GuideStone would be forced to pay for abortifacients, which we find unconscionable."

"This administration," Land added, "has shown a very disturbing trend of when religious freedoms collide with sexual rights, sexual rights trump religious convictions every time. If the insurance company is forced to provide the coverage, the insurance company is going to pass the cost on to the person paying for the insurance -- us."

Rep. Chris Smith (R.-N.J.), a staunch pro-lifer in Congress, also criticized the move.

"The so-called new policy is the discredited old policy, dressed up to look like something else," Smith said. "It remains a serious violation of religious freedom. Only the most naïve or gullible would accept this as a change in policy. ... It still forces religious employers and employees who have moral objections to paying for abortion inducing drugs, sterilization and contraception to pay for these things, because it is still the employers who buy the coverage for their employees."

Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider, applauded the Obama move.

"In the face of a misleading and outrageous assault on women's health, the Obama administration has reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring all women will have access to birth control coverage, with no costly co-pays, no additional hurdles, and no matter where they work," Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richard said. "We believe the compliance mechanism does not compromise a woman's ability to access these critical birth control benefits."

But Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, called it a "paperwork" gimmick.

"Liberals say keep your morals out of the bedroom, yet the President's plan forces everyone to pay the cost for someone else's contraceptive use in the bedroom," Perkins said. "That's not freedom, it's a mandate."

R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said the Obama administration has wrongly labeled the issue one about "contraception."

"Millions of Americans naturally think of a contraceptive as a mechanism for preventing the fertilization of the woman’s egg," Mohler wrote on his website. "They are unaware that the word has been redefined in medical, pharmacological and political contexts to refer to a mechanism for preventing either fertilization or the successful attachment of the fertilized egg to the uterine wall.

"This is not merely a matter of semantics," Mohler added. "Any intervention that prevents the fertilized egg from attaching to the uterine lining is an abortion. The Obama administration has mandated the inclusion of the so-called 'morning after pill' and other forms of 'emergency contraception' in qualified plans.

"Thus, only an accounting maneuver hides the fact that we will all be paying for chemical abortions under the President’s prized Affordable Care Act." --30-- Michael Foust is associate editor of Baptist Press. Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress) and in your email (baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP.asp).

Following is the complete statement from GuideStone:

GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention, one of the largest church plans in the nation, was distressed to hear that the President's comments do not take into account the needs of many of the oldest and largest church plans in the nation. GuideStone's medical plan, like that of many other established church plans, is self-funded which means it pays benefits directly instead of using a third-party insurance company as the source of benefit payments. This self-funded approach to healthcare coverage, which is common among many historic and large church plans, was completely ignored by the President in his comments.

The comments today appear to reflect a narrow and inadequate approach that does not address the issues at hand for Southern Baptists who oppose so-called contraceptives that can and do cause an abortion. Even more troubling is that the broader issue of religious freedom was only given lip service but no serious consideration in the President's remarks.

As stated by GuideStone's President O.S. Hawkins, "The President's statement today is an insulting affront illustrating a basic lack of understanding that this issue will not be solved by sleight-of-hand word games. It is a fundamental matter of religious liberty that threatens the very coverage of those dedicated persons who serve our churches and affiliated organizations. GuideStone will never depart from the core convictions it has held dear for decades regarding the sanctity of life."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
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1 posted on 02/10/2012 3:20:25 PM PST by Kukai
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To: Kukai

I really don’t think nobama has any consitutional authority to force anyone to buy anything. However, nobama feels the Constitution is for wiping his arse. Truly disgusting.


2 posted on 02/10/2012 3:23:13 PM PST by hal ogen (1st Amendment or Reeducation Camp?)
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To: Kukai

Just who does Obama think he is?!


3 posted on 02/10/2012 3:25:10 PM PST by lonestar (It takes a village of idiots to elect a village idiot.)
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To: Kukai

Here’s the deal with the “compromise” offered by Obama.

He knows he’s taking a black eye because of all this stuff with forcing religious groups to fund abortion and contraception. He offers this “compromise” so that he can try to appear “reasonable,” so that when religious groups (rightly) reject this bogus “compromise,” then they look like the bad guys.

Obama can say, “Hey, I offered to meet these religious fanatics halfway, and they rejected it!”


4 posted on 02/10/2012 3:28:27 PM PST by Yashcheritsiy
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To: Yashcheritsiy

BO says all this and doesn’t forget to throw in that he’s a Christian.


5 posted on 02/10/2012 3:34:30 PM PST by dandiegirl
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To: Kukai

Anyone who is working should have enough money to buy their own contraceptives, but now my already hyper inflated premiums are going to go up, so cheap women can have inconsequential sex with someone besides me.


6 posted on 02/10/2012 3:36:44 PM PST by pallis
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To: Kukai
It’s not just gasoline. I just returned from the grocery store and it looks like almost everything has jumped by 5% to 10% in the last month or two. It is frightening to think what it will be by this time next year.

Accounting gimmics and outright fraud aside, the main horrendous strategy is not being discussed.

The strategic significance of the proposal is to solidify the main foundation of the plan for the central government to have control of all health issues for everyone. Specially the welfare component of having working taxpayers pay for additional financial burdens.

The argument when the supreme court takes up the issue : "What's the point in arguing about it? It's already in place!"

7 posted on 02/10/2012 3:41:14 PM PST by Publius6961 (My world was lovely, until it was taken over by parasites.)
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To: lonestar

Fungable??? Why doesn’t the Zero fork over his savings for the uninsured??

He thinks he is the One. The emperor has no clothes.


8 posted on 02/10/2012 3:43:19 PM PST by ImJustAnotherOkie (zerogottago)
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To: Publius6961

“The argument when the supreme court takes up the issue : “What’s the point in arguing about it? It’s already in place!”

Eligibility
Chrysler bondholders
Health Care/Abortion
F&F
Illegal Aliens

SSDD. That’s the USSC at its best now.

Next up: euthanasia and “domestic terrorism” TSA anyone?


9 posted on 02/10/2012 3:48:28 PM PST by combat_boots (The Lion of Judah cometh. Hallelujah. Gloria Patri, Filio et Spiritui Sancto.)
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To: Kukai
The Democrats are doing everything they can to get everybody else to participate in the murder of the innocent unborn.

Frankly, I'd rather kill a Democrat, and I'd imagine there's a lot of support for that.

10 posted on 02/10/2012 4:18:08 PM PST by muawiyah
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To: Kukai
the insurance company -- not the hospital, not the charity -- will be required to reach out and offer the woman contraceptive care free of charge without co-pays and without hassles

0bama is ignorant or a liar.

Most large organizations are self insured. This means they still pay for it even if the insurance company pays.

This changes nothing.

11 posted on 02/10/2012 4:20:55 PM PST by FatherofFive (Islam is evil and must be eradicated)
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To: Kukai

Absolutely amazing that the issue can be so easily sidestepped. If Fox News touts its utterly ridiculous poll one more time, I may cut off cable access. Someone’s GOT to frame this issue correctly. Will it be Palin on Saturday night? If it doesn’t happen before then, I’d sure like to see it.


12 posted on 02/10/2012 4:21:04 PM PST by Mach9
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To: Kukai
Don't you religious nuts see that I Can take water out of only the left side of the bucket.

This idiocy goes back so many years it shames us all. We give foreign aid to shamelessly corrupt governments by telling, us the taxpayer it can be used only for humanitarian needs. Never bothering to discuss how feeding the people frees up money for the tyrant to steal or build armies with, we are indeed a gullible people.

13 posted on 02/10/2012 4:22:12 PM PST by itsahoot (I will Vote for Palin, even if I have to write her in.(Recycled Tagline))
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To: Kukai

As a Catholic I wish the Catholic bishops were as bright and courageous as the above mentioned Baptist Leaders.I have yet to hear Archbishop Dolan state that we are talking about abortion pills here such as RU486. Thank you Baptist Leaders for leading.


14 posted on 02/10/2012 5:38:59 PM PST by ardara
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To: Kukai

Thanks for posting this from Baptist Press.


15 posted on 02/10/2012 8:35:18 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: Kukai
The Obama HHS 'Compromise' Switches the Tiger for the Lion (Not all Catholics buying Obama's bull)
Hannity on now with Priests, Pastors and Rabbis. Please watch
EDITORIAL: Obama’s free abortion pills
U.S. bishops ‘express concerns’ about Obama mandate ‘accommodation’
What Compromise? This Policy Leaves Religious Liberty in Peril and Planned Parenthood Smiling (Albert Mohler Opinion)
Bishops Renew Call To Legislative Action On Religious Liberty
Southern Baptist leader: Obama gave Christians ‘the dismissive back’ of his hand
Obama's Act of Tyranny
Bishops Were Prepared for Battle Over Birth Control Coverage
'Accounting gimmick' -- Obama compromise still threatens religious liberty, leaders say

Don't Be Deceived! Evil Obama Policy Now Even MORE Evil!
Obama’s Contraceptive 'Compromise' Doesn't Pass the Smell Test ("It doesn't change a thing")
Compromise or Accommodation, it’s still unacceptable. (updated from Catholic Vote)
Pres. Obama’s “Plan B” compromise, Sr. Keehan, and the Magisterium of Nuns
Land Says Obama Mandate Most Anti-Catholic Government Action in 150 Years
Motive, Means and Opportunity: Obama’s Assault on Catholics
(Exempt Catholics) Joe Biden, Bill Daley warned of contraceptive backlash
(Tim) Thomas makes second political statement (Stands With Catholics)
Southern Baptist leader: If Obama mandate isn’t changed, Christians will go to jail
Over 150 congressional leaders demand repeal of HHS mandate

Boehner vows to overturn Obama’s birth control coverage rule
Boehner: Congress to overturn birth control policy if Obama does not reverse course
O'Brien says Archdiocese of Baltimore won't offer birth control coverage
Archbishop of San Francisco says Obama ruling strikes at religious freedom
How Obama Lost the Catholic Vote
‘I am going to stick with fellow Catholics’ in Pres. Obama’s war on Catholics. Wherein Fr. Z rants.
Unholy War
Six Things Everyone Should Know about the HHS Mandate
Santorum: Obama Hostile to Christians
Understanding Oppostion to the HHS Mandate (Part 1): Why the Church Won’t Pay for Contracept

The Bishops Chickens Coming Home to Roost.
65 Orthodox Church bishops call on Obama to ‘rescind’ the ‘unjust’ contraception mandate
Doug Kmiec Writes Obama: 'Friendship Will Not Permit Me to Disregard Duty to Faith and Country'
Catholic Outcry Over Obama Administration's Birth Control Decision Could Factor In Presidential Race
Standing with the Bishops [Catholic Caucus]
Updated: *167* Bishops (More Than 90% of Dioceses) Have Spoken Out Against Obama/HHS Mandate
Outrage!… Military Tells Chaplains What They Can and Can’t Say About HHS/ObamaAssault on Religion
Updated: *153* Bishops (Over 80% of Dioceses) Have Spoken Out Against Obama/HHS Mandate
An Affront Catholics Agree On [Liberal and Conservative Catholics Against Obama Mandate]
Army Silenced Chaplains Last Sunday

Catholic Military Archdiocese & Chaplains interfered with last Sunday by Pres. Obama’s Admin
The Anti-Catholic President v. the Catholic Bishops
Sen. Rubio introduces bill to reverse Obama birth control mandate
Churches balk at birth control rule - Catholics won’t comply, Bishop Kevin Rhoades says
Protestants and Jews declare to White House: We stand with Catholics
Checking the Air Outside [Bp. Zubik's follow up to Obama's “To Hell with You”]
Mohler [Southern Baptist] Says Insurance Mandate Not Just 'Catholic' Issue
An Open Letter to President Barack Obama Concerning Recent Tyranny (With Pictures!)
Lincoln bishop: prepare for 'suffering' under HHS mandate
Bishop David Zubik confronts Obama
Obama’s ‘war on the church’

Pope hits out at 'radical secularism'
‘We Will Not Comply’: Catholic Leaders Distribute Letter Slamming Obama Admin Contraceptive Mandate
‘We Will Not Comply’: Catholic Leaders Distribute Letter Slamming Obama Admin Contraceptive Mandate
Bruskewitz: Fight Insurance Ruling [Sebelius a "bitter, fallen away Catholic"]
Letter from Archbishop John G. Vlazny on the matter of freedom of conscience and decisions by HHS
Bishop Olmsted's Letter to Catholics [Catholic Caucus]
Liberty for the Amish & Quakers but not Catholics. . .
Contraception mandate prompts Peoria bishop to instate St. Michael Prayer (Catholic Caucus)
Phoenix bishop (Olmstead): defy feds on birth control
A letter from Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr concerning HHS edict

Speak honestly: abortion is ‘the killing of tiny human beings in the womb’ – Denver bishop
Bishop [Daniel Jenky] Blasts Secularist Intolerance, Calls For ‘Assertive Action’ to Defend Church
(Pittsburgh Bishop Zubik comments:) HHS delays rule on contraceptive coverage
Dolan: Natural law, not religious preference, dictates all life sacred
Religious leaders blast HHS over contraception mandate
Mandated Contraception, Sterilization: Caesar Demands Church Violate Conscience
OBAMA’S CONTEMPT FOR RELIGIOUS LIBERTY (mandates coverage of sterilization & contraception)
Implications of Obama Admin move to force Cath hospitals to provide contraception and sterilizations
Catholic doctors’ group launches petition against contraception mandate
Contraception mandate tramples religious freedom, US bishops say

16 posted on 02/10/2012 8:37:23 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: ardara
Bishops ‘concerned’ over reworded mandate; other Catholic leaders slam as ‘insult to injury’
17 posted on 02/10/2012 8:42:26 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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