>Obama Administration Attacking Religious Freedom
The Archdiocese of Washington echoes the concerns raised by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in a statement released Friday in response to the Obama Administration’s decision to enact regulations that will force most Catholic employers to provide health care plans covering sterilization procedures and all FDA approved contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs.
Until now, no federal law has required anyone to purchase, sell, sponsor, or be covered by a private health plan that violates his or her conscience. Under the HHS edict, however, virtually all Catholic charitable organizations, hospitals, schools, colleges and universities that want to provide for the needs of their employees and students in a manner consistent with Catholic moral teachings will be placed in the untenable position of having to choose between violating the law and violating their conscience.
Religious liberty is the most cherished and fundamental of American freedoms. As Thomas Jefferson observed in 1809, “No provision in our Constitution ought to be dearer to man than that which protects the rights of conscience against the enterprises of the civil authority.”
In a meeting with Cardinal Donald Wuerl and other American bishops on Thursday, Pope Benedict XVI addressed recent attacks on religious freedom, calling upon the American Catholic community to realize they are “grave threats to the Church’s public moral witness presented by a radical secularism which finds increasing expression in the political and cultural spheres.” In response to these threats, Pope Benedict said the Church urges the Catholic laity to have the courage to proclaim “respect for God’s gift of life, the protection of human dignity and the promotion of authentic human rights.”
As Cardinal Wuerl has previously stated, “No freedom is more precious and deserving of vigilance than our freedom of conscience.”
This is a direct attack on Catholics and all Christians If we don’t protest this latest attack on religious freedom then SHAME ON US!! Get ready to pay. This morning President Obama called New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan to break the news. Secretary of Health and Human Services and pro-abortion Catholic Kathleen Sebelius just announced that the proposed mandate requiring all insurance plans to pay for contraception, sterilization and some abortion drugs is official — and Catholics cannot escape.
…and the fig-leaf exemption for religious groups will not be modified, apart from allowing some groups an additional year to comply.
Cardinal-designate Timothy M. Dolan responded minutes ago, saying: “In effect, the president is saying we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences.”
Beginning August 1, 2012 (less than eight months from today), the insurance premiums we pay, including the insurance premiums paid by Catholics for employees of churches and schools — will be used to cover drugs and procedures that are in direct conflict with the teachings of our Church.
That’s right. Our government will now force us to pay for insurance coverage for birth control, sterilization and even some abortion drugs.
President Obama ignored the organized efforts of Catholics across the country, including bold statements from the Bishops, university presidents (including Notre Dame’s Rev. Jenkins), and even his Catholic allies like Sr. Carol Keehan. Instead, President Obama stood with his real friends — Planned Parenthood.
Make no mistake, this decision is a direct attack on you, our Church, and the religious liberty of all Americans. Just yesterday, Pope Benedict XVI addressed the bishops from the United States who were completing their “Ad Limina” visit in Rome. The Holy Father specifically cited the “grave threats” to the freedom of the Church in America, and urged the Catholic community to respond, especially with “an engaged, articulate and well-formed Catholic laity.”
He’s talking to you and me. The Holy Father’s brief address is a must read (link below). Finally, today marks exactly one year from Inauguration Day. In exactly 12 months, America will welcome a new president, or usher in four more years of Barack Obama and his assault on our liberties. This irony is not lost on us.
We built CatholicVote into a movement to advance the cause of life, family, and freedom. Today’s decision is an assault on all three. And it MUST be defeated. You have our pledge that we will do everything possible to educate and mobilize the Catholic vote in 2012. For on a day such as this, we realize that elections indeed have consequences.
The Catholic vote must rise up like never before.
Sincerely,
Brian Burch, President
CatholicVote.org