Posted on 02/07/2012 3:01:20 PM PST by NYer
The USCCB continues its campaign against the HHS Mandate that forces religious employers and institutions to purchase services that go against their religion.
Here is the text that can be found at the USCCB website:
Which is why it is important the everyone contacts their senators and representatives and petitions the White House about this matter.1. The mandate does not exempt Catholic charities, schools, universities, or hospitals. These institutions are vital to the mission of the Church, but HHS does not deem them "religious employers" worthy of conscience protection, because they do not "serve primarily persons who share the[ir] religious tenets." HHS denies these organizations religious freedom precisely because their purpose is to serve the common good of society—a purpose that government should encourage, not punish.2. The mandate forces these institutions and others, against their conscience, to pay for things they consider immoral. Under the mandate, the government forces religious insurers to write policies that violate their beliefs; forces religious employers and schools to sponsor and subsidize coverage that violates their beliefs; and forces religious employees and students to purchase coverage that violates their beliefs.3. The mandate forces coverage of sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs and devices as well as contraception. Though commonly called the "contraceptive mandate," HHS's mandate also forces employers to sponsor and subsidize coverage of sterilization. And, by including all drugs approved by the FDA for use as contraceptives, the HHS mandate includes drugs that can induce abortion, such as "Ella," a close cousin of the abortion pill RU-486.4. Catholics of all political persuasions are unified in their opposition to the mandate. Catholics who have long supported this Administration and its healthcare policies have publicly criticized HHS's decision, including columnists E.J. Dionne, Mark Shields, and Michael Sean Winters; college presidents Father John Jenkins and Arturo Chavez; and Daughter of Charity Sister Carol Keehan, president and chief executive officer of the Catholic Health Association of the United States.5. Many other religious and secular people and groups have spoken out strongly against the mandate. Many recognize this as an assault on the broader principle of religious liberty, even if they disagree with the Church on the underlying moral question. For example, Protestant Christian, Orthodox Christian, and Orthodox Jewish groups--none of which oppose contraception--have issued statements against the decision. The Washington Post, USA Today, N.Y. Daily News, Detroit News, and other secular outlets, columnists, and bloggers have editorialized against it.6. The federal mandate is much stricter than existing state mandates. HHS chose the narrowest state-level religious exemption as the model for its own. That exemption was drafted by the ACLU and exists in only 3 states (New York, California, Oregon). Even without a religious exemption, religious employers can already avoid the contraceptive mandates in 28 states by self-insuring their prescription drug coverage, dropping that coverage altogether, or opting for regulation under a federal law (ERISA) that pre-empts state law. The HHS mandate closes off all these avenues of relief.
Catholic ping!
Obama is forcing the Catholic Church out of the business of providing health care, This is a tragedy of epic proportions. Soon there will be no Catholic hospitals.
I wish people would check their cynicism at the door. Obama/the federal government does not have the last word, especially when what they rule is clearly unconstitutional.
If we speak up, and fight back, we can get rid of it. If we act like apathetic sheep, and say nothing, then he wins.
Take your pick.
Please check your rose-colored glasses at the door. See how many Catholic hospitals now exist in Phoenix. They are not stupid, they are getting out of the way.
Kulturkampf
Sadly, it doesn't mean they won't still vote for Obama. I'd be thrilled if a few publicly stated they'd vote AGAINST him because of this decision.
We must not accept the Obama administration from just backing down from this assult on religious liberty, we must reject Obamacare in its entirety.
We must defeat the socialist/communist in November 2012.
The Church should deal with the evil nature of this administration and not support its other policies.
“Obama is forcing the Catholic Church out of the business of providing health care, This is a tragedy of epic proportions. Soon there will be no Catholic hospitals.”
This is no accident; here in NJ the state is driving Catholic schools out of business by forcing us to pay exhorbitant costs for the public system, and by reducing “charity care” reimbursements (required treatment of those unable to pay - mostly illegal aliens) they’ve closed some Catholic hospitals already. The “state” is driving out the competition.
“The Church should deal with the evil nature of this administration and not support its other policies.”
Until the Church purges the Modernists from its ranks, they can’t deal with anything. Too many Catholics, even in the hierarchy, have made Catholics comfortable supporting this Bolshevik.
‘I am going to stick with fellow Catholics’ in Pres. Obama’s war on Catholics. Wherein Fr. Z rants.
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