A couple of months ago, many Catholics (and others) were shocked to find out that the Obama Administration had issued regulations mandating the coverage of contraception (including abortifacients) and sterilization in all private health insurance plans. The so-called religious exemption provided in the regulation is so narrowly defined as to be practically meaningless.
This action by the Obama Administration is not only foolish but is a heavy-handed assault on religious liberty. Disturbingly, this assault on religious liberty is just one of many by this Administration in recent months.
The number and gravity of assaults on religious liberty are so great that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has formed an Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty. In a letter to his fellow bishops, Archbishop Timothy Dolan, president of the USCCB, stated that this new committee "will work closely with national organizations, charities, ecumenical and interreligious partners and scholars to form a united and forceful front in defense of religious freedom in our nation."
Archbishop Dolan emphasized that religious liberty is "inherent in the dignity of the human person" and is a "foundational principle of our country, one that has been enshrined in the United States Constitution, further enumerated in the First Amendment, and explicitly extended to all U.S. citizens.
"The Framers of the Constitution themselves understood this ‘First Freedom’ to be based on the norms inherent in Natural Law—namely, ‘that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, and that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness,’ Archbishop Dolan stated.
However, the Archbishop warned, "this basic right, in its many and varied applications for Christians and people of faith, is now increasingly and in unprecedented ways under assault in America. This is most particularly so in an increasing number of federal government programs or policies that would infringe upon the right of conscience of people of faith or otherwise harm the foundational principle of religious liberty."
Archbishop Dolan cited several examples. In addition to the Obama Administration’s mandated coverage of contraception and sterilization in all health insurance plans, the Archbishop cited the following:
* The Department of State is increasingly requiring that all international relief and development programs include "comprehensive HIV prevention activities" that includes condom distribution and "reproductive health activities" that includes provision of artificial contraception.
* The Department of Health and Human Services is also requiring that Migration and Refugee Service provide the ‘full range of reproductive services’ to trafficking victims and unaccompanied minors in its cooperative agreements and government contracts. "Reproductive services" means provision or referral for abortion and contraception.
* The federal Department of Justice has ratcheted up its attack on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) as an act of bigotry. In March, the Department stopped defending DOMA against constitutional challenges, and the USCCB spoke out against that decision. But in July, the Department started filing briefs actively attacking DOMA’s constitutionality, claiming that supporters of the law could only have been motivated by bias and prejudice.
Nebraska’s 1st District Congressman, Jeff Fortenberry, introduced the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act (H.R. 1179, S. 1467) which would provide conscience protection from the Administration’s mandated coverage of contraception and sterilization in health insurance plans. I’m pleased to say that Nebraska’s other two Congressmen (Smith, Terry) and two Senators (Johanns and Nelson) have co-sponsored this bill.
This bill, if enacted, would provide some protection from the Obama Administration’s assault on religious liberty. However, many other assaults will need to be countered as well. The efforts of the Bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty will be extraordinarily critical in countering these assaults, as will the voice of every Catholic and believer in religious freedom.
For more information on this topic, check out the U.S. Bishops’ website: www.usccb.org/conscience.
You can contact Greg at The Nebraska Catholic Conference, 215 Centennial Mall South Suite 310, Lincoln, NE 68508; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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