HHS birth control mandate prohibits freedom of religion
by Virginia Cline
The federal government is strangling the faithful by forcing religiously affiliated organizations to provide artificial contraceptive drugs that are known to be evil and harmful.
The disastrous U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate forcing all employers, including religiously affiliated organizations, to provide insurance coverage for contraceptives, abortion-causing drugs, and sterilization became effective this month. The administration has given religiously affiliated organizations exactly one year, in the now famous words of Cardinal Dolan, “to figure out how to violate our consciences.”
Americans need to stand up against this blatant disregard for religious liberty or there will be more infringement on our freedom under the guise of “patient protection.”
The HHS birth control mandate is an attempt to bully religious organizations such as the Catholic Church into providing the very life-ending drugs we oppose.
More than 42 Catholic organizations, including the Archdiocese of New York and Notre Dame University, are suing the Obama Administration over this anti-pregnancy government mandate.
Notre Dame President Rev. John Jenkins said, “This filing is about the freedom of a religious organization to live its mission, and its significance goes well beyond any debate about contraceptives.”
Our religious liberty is protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution which states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
We know oral contraceptives are harmful. In 2003, the World Health Organization classified artificial contraceptives as carcinogens yet our federal government wants every insurance plan to provide them.
The enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act takes the federal government’s infringement on the rights of conscience of American citizens to a whole new level. Americans need to stand up against this mandate or there will be more infringement on our freedom under the guise of “patient protection.”
Please contact your congressman and let him/her know that you support religious freedom. If that doesn’t change his/her mind, be sure to vote for someone who does support religious freedom on November 6. Encourage other U.S. voters to do the same.
Five simple facts about the HHS mandate
1. All religious institutions must comply.
Whether Christian, Jewish, Muslim or any other faith’s charities, schools, universities, or hospitals -- all religious institutions must comply. The charitable institutions operated by these religions are vital to the mission of faith, but HHS does not deem the charitable institutions as "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.This is an assault on the broader principle of religious liberty.
For example, Protestant Christian, Orthodox Christian, and Orthodox Jewish groups--none of which opposes contraception--have issued statements against the HHS mandate even though their own doctrines do not prohibit the use of contraception. The Washington Post, USA Today, N.Y. Daily News, Detroit News, and other secular outlets, columnists, and bloggers have editorialized against the HHS mandate because of its assault on religious liberty.
5.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 three 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.
Based on the USCCB publication: Six Things Everyone Should Know About the HHS Mandate
Five things that you can do to stand up for religious freedom
1.Pray for a return to justice in our nation.
2.Stand in solidarity with other Christians opposing the HHS mandate.
3.Contact your elected officials with a strong statement about why you oppose this mandate.
4.Vote for pro-life candidates and make your voice heard at the ballot box.
5.Encourage others to vote for pro-life candidates.
Related article: WaPo: HHS mandate: An attack on all people of faith
“Freedom of religion extends beyond the practice of our faith in houses of worship. We must be free to put our faith into action in the public square.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/guest-voices/post/hhs-mandate-an-attack-on-all-people-of-faith/2012/08/09/b4d4781c-e271-11e1-a25e-15067bb31849_blog.html
http://iwf.org/blog/2788680/
