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Tuesday, March 13, 2012

WE WILL NOT COMPLY-Catholic Civil Disobedience


"Unacceptable" - A Statement signed by Notre Dame Faculty, Princeton & Harvard Professors, and Various Academic and Legal Experts: http://www.becketfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Garvey-Glendon-George-Sn...

USCCB Statement After Obama's "Compromise": http://www.usccb.org/news/2012/12-026.cfm

Bishop Lori in the Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/guest-voices/post/the-jesus-mandate-vs-ob...

Fellow Catholics - let's unite in this fight to protect our religious liberty and freedom of conscience. Please learn more about the church's longstanding and solid teaching on contraception, pray for our leaders to rescind this mandate, and prepare yourselves mentally and spiritually to disobey this unjust law, if necessary. This "compromise" is an accounting gimmick, smoke and mirrors - the same issues exist in terms of the government forcing us to act against a major tenant or our faith. The rescission of this mandate is the only complete solution.

Christians, Jews, Muslims, and people of any faith or no faith - please stand with us in this fight to protect our most fundamental constitutional right, the right to free religious practice. We want to be left alone to do our work and practice our faith in good conscience, just like you.

If you and I don't stand up and do something, who will?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Conscience Protection

 Bishops Vow to Fight Coercive HHS Mandate
On February 10, the Catholic bishops of the United States called for a renewed effort to change the HHS imposed mandate that violates conscience rights & religious liberty. The Administration's “accommodation” still forces objecting organizations and individuals to pay for “services” that violate their religious convictions.

~  The original unjust rule has not been changed, but rather finalized.
~  HHS has promised some kind of “accommodation,” but only after the election.
~  The promised “accommodation”— even at its best — would still              force our institutions to violate their beliefs.
~  There's no exemption for objecting insurers, secular employers,
             for-profit religious employers, or individuals.
Latest News: On March 1, the Senate voted 51-48 to "table" the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act as amended to the Transportation appropriations bill by Senator Blunt. Bishop Lori, chair of the bishops' Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty, responded in a brief press release statement, "We will not rest until the protection of conscience rights is restored and the First Amendment is returned to its place of respect in the Bill of Rights."

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, president of the USCCB, sharply criticized the decision by the Obama administration in which it "ordered almost every employer and insurer in the country to provide sterilization and contraceptives, including some abortion-inducing drugs, in their health plans....Never before has the federal government forced individuals and organizations to go out into the marketplace and buy a product that violates their conscience. This shouldn't happen in a land where free exercise of religion ranks first in the Bill of Rights."
He urged Catholics and the public at large to speak out in protest. Watch his video & then take action today!

See the impressive list of links to the bishops' statements.

USCCB Responds to Misleading White House Blog Entry

"White House Misrepresents Its Own Contraceptive Mandate"
The Obama administration, to justify its widely-criticized mandate for contraception and sterilization coverage in private health plans, has posted a set of false and misleading claims on the White House blog (“Health Reform, Preventive Services, and Religious Institutions,” February 1). This new USCCB fact sheet quotes and responds to each claim in turn.

More Background

On January 20, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reaffirmed a rule forcing virtually all private health care plans to cover sterilization, abortifacients, and contraception. These are listed among "preventive services for women" that all health plans will have to cover without co-pays or other cost-sharing -- regardless of whether the insurer, the employer or other plan sponsor, or even the woman herself objects to such coverage.

The exemption provided for "religious employers" was so narrow that it failed to cover the vast majority of faith-based organizations—including Catholic hospitals, universities, and charities—that help millions every year.  Ironically, not even Jesus and his disciples would have qualified for the exemption, because it excludes those who mainly serve people of another faith.

On February 10, the Obama Administration made this rule final “without change”; delayed enforcement for a year against religious nonprofits that were still not exempted (our charities, hospitals, and colleges); and promised to develop more regulations to “accommodate” them by the end of that additional year.  But that promised “accommodation” still forces them to pay for “services” that violate their religious convictions.
  • The original rule that violated our religious liberty so severely has not been changed, but finalized.
  • HHS has promised some kind of “accommodation,” but only after the election.
  • The promised “accommodation”—even at its best—would still force our institutions to violate their beliefs.
  • There is no exemption for objecting insurers, secular employers, for-profit religious employers, or individuals.
Now that the Administration has refused to recognize the Constitutional conscience rights of organizations and individuals who oppose the mandate, the bishops are now urging Catholics and others of good will to fight this unprecedented attack on conscience rights and religious liberty.

We urgently need legislation to correct the mandate’s threats to religious liberty and conscience rights. The Respect for Rights of Conscience Act has been introduced in Congress (H.R. 1179/S. 1467) to ensure that those who participate in the market for health insurance “retain the right to provide, purchase, or enroll in health coverage that is consistent with their religious beliefs and moral convictions.”

More than 400 Catholic leaders have called on Congress and the Administration to protect conscience rights in health care. The open letter appeared as a full page ad featuring over 150 of those leaders in the New York Times and the Washington Post on December 21. 

Get Informed & Take Action Now

Select News Releases

Additional Information on Conscience Protection

 Source: United State Conference Of Catholic Bishops
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Posted by mydailysoapbox at 3:34 PM
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