Catholic bishops continue protest of contraception mandate
Tags
Related Posts
About the author
President Obama wasn’t mentioned by name, but he was clearly the target Thursday as the nation’s Roman Catholic bishops began their “Fortnight for Freedom” campaign with a renewed attack on a federal mandate for private employers to provide free contraceptive coverage to workers.
The mandate, Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore told worshipers at a nationally televised Mass, “will force conscientious private employers to violate their consciences” by making them offer “reproductive services that are morally objectionable.”
The Catholic Church considers birth control a sin, and has strenuously fought the Obama administration and its Department of Health and Human Services over the rule, which goes into effect Aug. 1.
Churches are exempt from the requirement, but the Catholic bishops say the government’s definition of a church is too narrow and leaves out faith-based institutions such as charities, schools and hospitals that employ or serve mostly non-Catholics.
“Friends,” said Lori, speaking at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption in Baltimore, “we must not allow the government — any government, of any time, of any party — to impose such a restrictive definition on our beloved church or any church.”
That the bishops’ protest has landed smack in the middle of a presidential race has been lost on no one, least of all the bishops, who have insisted that they aren’t taking a partisan stand — and that the timing was dictated by Obama, not the church.
The Fortnight for Freedom, in which Catholics are being urged to speak out about the mandate, runs through July 4. It includes a political-style ad produced by a new organization, the Catholic Assn., led by a former spokeswoman for the National Right to Life Committee.
The ad, running on Fox News, depicts the Catholic faithful and makes the point that faith is practiced outside churches, not just in the pews. Although it doesn’t mention the president by name, it features a glowering photo of Obama and a narrator intoning, “We will defend our right to practice our faith, free from government coercion.”
It’s anybody’s guess whether the bishops’ efforts will hurt Obama politically.
“It depends on how you think the campaign is going to be run,” said the Rev. Thomas Reese, a Catholic priest who is a senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University. “If the campaign is all about energizing the base and getting them to vote, who cares what the bishops think?”
If anything, he said, the issue could shore up support among those who see Obama standing up for women’s reproductive freedom. On the other hand, he said, “if you’re going after the independent swing voter, many of whom are Catholic, it doesn’t help the administration to have … the bishops say negative things abut Obama.”
SOURCE
LA Times
Leave a Comment
Photo Archive
-
Jun 19, 2013 5:55
Poll: Catholic Church view on same-sex marriage causing parishoners to flee
-
Jun 19, 2013 5:52
Man arrested in shooting during Catholic church service in Utah
-
Jun 19, 2013 5:45
Scituate parishioners taking dispute to highest Vatican court
-
Jun 19, 2013 5:41
Local clergy abuse survivor testifies before the United Nations
-
Jun 19, 2013 5:38
Alleged victim of clergy sexual abuse files lawsuit
-
Jun 18, 2013 10:28
Chaos as gunfire erupts at Utah Father’s day Mass
-
Jun 17, 2013 4:51
Obama names former CRS head ambassador to the Vatican
-
Jun 17, 2013 4:46
Addressing U.S., global child malnutrition a top priority for advocates
-
Jun 17, 2013 4:42
Female priests risk excommunication to be ordained
-
Jun 14, 2013 5:04
Catholic League president: ‘Nest of homosexual priests’ should be ‘rooted out’
12 Comments
DonE — great point about the left re-labeling reality to make it appear that it is the bishops who are playing politics, when in fact it is they who are removing the right to the free practice of religion. God help us. But, DonE, it’s good to know there are people like you out there — we just need to few good people to eventually win this fight, because the left does not have truth on their side.
President Obama has excepted churches from the mandate. No problem with religious freedom. If a hospital takes and uses public money the hospital must provide any and all services to men and women a cross the board. Period. If they don’t take public money they can withhold any services the like. It is about MONEY, not religious freedom..
Realistically, Tony, every hospital must take federal money to stay in business (read: many patients have Medicare). But, again, you miss the point, and you are factually incorrect: this mandate applies to ALL employers, including any private-sector employer, whether or not they receive federal money. So Tony, I have corrected you in the recent past on this precise issue, so please quit postings your distortions of reality.
Medical procedures and treatments should be between a patient and doctor. There are times when birth control meds are used for other problems like menstral flow regulation. It is no bodys business.
I don’t want to go to a hospital owned by some Christians and be subject to snake handlers and I don’t want to go to a Jehova Witness Hospital and be denied a blood transfusion.
It is between a doctor and patient to determine what will and will not be done.
The faith community my suggest and guide but ultimitly it should be between doctor and patient.
Ultimately, Tony, it is God who tells us what is inherently right and what is inherently wrong — and God has told us through the medium He established, the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, that artificial birth control is wrong. So of course a person can make their own decisions in consultation with their doctor — however, if they decide to use artifical birth control, they are wrong — case closed.
Editorsub1, clearly the attack by the nation’s Roman Catholic Bishops in their “Fortnight for Freedom” campaign is about the Obamacare law that is just unfolding through the recent notice of enforcement actions by the Federal Government Administration. Perhaps you should have mentioned it was the current Administration that removed the “religious conscience” clause from the Obamacare Bill before it was passed by a Democrat Legislature and signed into law by a Democrat President. The initial salvo and subsequent salvos were fired by the current Administration at religious organizations, not by the Bishops playing politics as you insinuate.
The Jesuit priest, Thomas Reese of Georgetown Univ, quoted in the opinion piece, sounds to me as if he cares more about contraceptive “rights” for the single women of the Georgetown student population than for the Word of God. How proud he must feel that you have quoted him so eloquently.
Eileen — the job of the bishops is to shepherd the flock to the Truth — the bishops do not put their finger up in the air to find which way the wind is blowing. And, with regard to “women’s rights” — actually, you are referring to license, not rights. No one, man or woman, has the right to immoral behavior.
To clarify: artificial contraception is immoral; therefore, no one has a right to it. Further, from a strictly secular perspective, contraception is not a right mentioned in the cxnstxtution.
Practicing family planning is not immoral. It is a necessity. The rhythm method is not conducive to a happy marriage.
So, Eileen, I guess you are your own moral authority — just what Eve decided to do in the Garden — eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, so that she got to define what is right and what is wrong. And we can see the result of her decision.
In the 21st century we can’t make decisions based on the bible. We have to use common sense.
Don’t the bishops know that most Catholics have been using contraceptives for years? What about women’s rights? It’s not easy to get a job – women can’t just quit.
Are they trying to divert attention away from the child sex abuse scandal?