WASHINGTON & SANTA
FE, NM (By Brian
Montopoli, CBS)
February 1, 2012
— During church
services on Sunday,
Catholics around the
country were read a
blistering letter
assailing the Obama
administration for
an "assault on
religious liberty"
in the form of a
coming requirement
that most
church-linked
organizations -
among them
hospitals, schools
and universities -
offer birth control
coverage as part of
their health care
plans.
Despite strong
lobbying from
religious groups,
the Health and Human
Services Department
announced earlier
this month that most
church-linked groups
will not be exempt
from the
requirements - which
also mandate that no
co-pay be charged
for contraceptive
services - though
they will have an
extra year to comply
beyond the August 1
deadline. Churches
themselves (along
with any other
employer that is
explicitly focused
on offering a
religious message,
and which primarily
employs those who
believe in that
message) are exempt
from the
requirement.
Religious groups
were outraged by the
decision - saying it
forced employers at
church-linked
organizations to
violate their
conscience - and on
Sunday Catholic
leaders took their
complaints directly
to parishioners. As
Business Insider
reported, similar
letters were read in
churches around the
country complaining
that "the Obama
Administration has
cast aside the First
Amendment to the
Constitution of the
United States,
denying to Catholics
our Nation's first
and most fundamental
freedom, that of
religious liberty."
In an appearance on
"CBS This Morning"
Monday, Republican
presidential
candidate Newt
Gingrich brought up
the letters, using
them as an
opportunity to
attack both the
Obama administration
and Republican rival
Mitt Romney.
"The Obama
administration has
just launched an
attack on
Christianity so
severe that every
single church in
Florida had a letter
read from the
bishops yesterday
all across the
country - Cardinal
Timothy Dolan was
leading an effort to
explain that,
literally, freedom
of religion in
America is now being
attacked by Obama,"
he said. "The Romneycare does the
same thing.
Romneycare has
tax-paid abortions.
Romneycare put
Planned Parenthood,
the largest abortion
provider in America,
in the bill. No
right to life
group's in the bill.
Planned Parenthood
is. Romney himself
approved taking away
a conscience clause
from Catholic
hospitals."
In explaining the
decision to require
birth control
coverage for church-linked
groups, Health and
Human Services
Secretary Kathleen
Sebelius said
"Scientists have
abundant evidence
that birth control
has significant
health benefits for
women and their
families, it is
documented to
significantly reduce
health costs, and is
the most commonly
taken drug in
America by young and
middle-aged women.
This rule will
provide women with
greater access to
contraception by
requiring coverage
and by prohibiting
cost sharing."
"This decision was
made after very
careful
consideration,
including the
important concerns
some have raised
about religious
liberty," she added.
"I believe this
proposal strikes the
appropriate balance
between respecting
religious freedom
and increasing
access to important
preventive services.
The administration
remains fully
committed to its
partnerships with
faith-based
organizations, which
promote healthy
communities and
serve the common
good. And this final
rule will have no
impact on the
protections that
existing conscience
laws and regulations
give to health care
providers."
The
letter from the
Bishop of Marquette,
read in church
Sunday:
Dear Brothers and
Sisters in Christ:
I write to you
concerning an
alarming and serious
matter that
negatively impacts
the Church in the
United States
directly, and that
strikes at the
fundamental right to
religious liberty
for all citizens of
any faith. The
federal government,
which claims to be
"of, by, and for the
people," has just
been dealt a heavy
blow to almost a
quarter of those
people -- the
Catholic population
-- and to the
millions more who
are served by the
Catholic faithful.
The U.S. Department
of Health and Human
Services announced
last week that
almost all
employers, including
Catholic employers,
will be forced to
offer their
employees' health
coverage that
includes
sterilization,
abortion-inducing
drugs, and
contraception.
Almost all health
insurers will be
forced to include
those "services" in
the health policies
they write. And
almost all
individuals will be
forced to buy that
coverage as a part
of their policies.
In so ruling, the
Obama Administration
has cast aside the
First Amendment to
the Constitution of
the United States,
denying to Catholics
our Nation's first
and most fundamental
freedom, that of
religious liberty.
And as a result,
unless the rule is
overturned, we
Catholics will be
compelled to either
violate our
consciences, or to
drop health coverage
for our employees
(and suffer the
penalties for doing
so). The Obama
Administration's
sole concession was
to give our
institutions one
year to comply.
We cannot--we will
not--comply with
this unjust law.
People of faith
cannot be made
second class
citizens. We are
already joined by
our brothers and
sisters of all
faiths and many
others of good will
in this important
effort to regain our
religious freedom.
Our parents and
grandparents did not
come to these shores
to help build
America's cities and
towns, its
infrastructure and
institutions, its
enterprise and
culture, only to
have their posterity
stripped of their
God given rights. In
generations past,
the Church has
always been able to
count on the
faithful to stand up
and protect her
sacred rights and
duties. I hope and
trust she can count
on this generation
of Catholics to do
the same. Our
children and
grandchildren
deserve nothing
less.
And therefore, I
would ask of you two
things. First, as a
community of faith
we must commit
ourselves to prayer
and fasting that
wisdom and justice
may prevail, and
religious liberty
may be restored.
Without God, we can
do nothing; with
God, nothing is
impossible. Second,
I would also
recommend visiting
www.usccb.org/conscience,
to learn more about
this severe assault
on religious
liberty, and how to
contact Congress in
support of
legislation that
would reverse the
Obama
Administration's
decision.
Sincerely yours in
Christ,
Most Reverend
Alexander K. Sample
Bishop of Marquette
