At their annual November meeting, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a “special message” reaffirming their vow to fight the HHS contraception, sterilization, abortifacient mandate. “As the government’s implementation of the mandate against us approaches [January 1, 2014], we bishops stand united in our resolve to resist this heavy burden and protect our religious freedom,” the message says.
The message begins with a quote by Pope Francis: “In the context of society, there is only one thing which the Church quite clearly demands: the freedom to proclaim the Gospel in its entirety, even when it runs counter to the world, even when it goes against the tide.”
“We stand together as pastors charged with proclaiming the Gospel in its entirety,” the Bishops say. “That Gospel calls us to feed the poor, heal the sick, and educate the young, and in so doing witness to our faith in its fullness. Our great ministries of service and our clergy, religious sisters and brothers, and lay faithful, especially those involved in Church apostolates, strive to answer this call every day, and the Constitution and the law protect our freedom to do so.
“Yet with its coercive HHS mandate,” the bishops’ continue, “the government is refusing to uphold its obligation to respect the rights of religious believers.”
The Bishops then reiterated three basic problems with the HHS mandate that they first articulated in March 2012 in their statement “United for Religious Freedom”. First, “it establishes a false architecture of religious liberty that excludes our ministries and so reduces freedom of religion to freedom of worship.”
Second, “it compels our ministries to participate in providing employees with abortifacient drugs and devices, sterilization, and contraception, which violates our deeply-held beliefs.” Third “it compels our faithful people in business to act against our teachings, failing to provide them any exemption at all.”
“Despite our repeated efforts to work and dialogue toward a solution, those problems remain,” the bishops said. “Not only does the mandate undermine our ministries’ ability to witness to our faith, which is their core mission, but the penalties it imposes also lay a great burden on those ministries, threatening their very ability to survive and to serve the many who rely on their care.” The full statement can be seen online at http://usccb.org/HHS mandate.
At the end of the statement, the Bishops mention their continued efforts in Congress and in the Courts to protect religious freedom. On the latter front, there was more good news recently in a couple of court cases against the HHS mandate.
First, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of two Catholic families and their businesses who filed lawsuits against the HHS mandate. In both cases, Korte v. Sebelius and Grote v. Sebelius lower courts had ruled against these families. In issuing an injunction prohibiting enforcement of the mandate against these plaintiffs, the court spoke clearly and strongly in support of religious liberties and the freedom of conscience.
Second, a federal judge has ruled in favor of the Dioceses of Pittsburgh and Erie in Pennsylvania issuing a preliminary injunction prohibiting enforcement of the HHS mandate against these dioceses and their affiliated organizations. According to Matt Bowman, a legal expert involved in many of these HHS lawsuits, this is a huge victory for a couple of reasons.
First, “it defeats the so-called ‘accommodation’ that President Obama has attempted to thrust on non-profit religious groups”, Bowman states. “That alleged compromise draws a bright line between churches and other non-profit religious groups, and it forces those groups to trigger contraceptive insurance coverage by means of a shell game where they are supposed to pretend they aren’t involved.”
Second, “the injunction is the first one that has been thoroughly litigated for a Catholic non-profit organization, and only the second one so litigated for a non-profit entity of any kind (Geneva College, also in Pennsylvania, won a similar injunction earlier this year).” For a complete report on the status of all lawsuits against the HHS Mandate, check out www.becketfund.org.
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