Assault on Catholics - The administration has already inserted federal bureaucrats between you and your doctor. Now, this new overreach pushed us to a truly dangerous tipping point where a federal agency is forcing people of faith to change their interpretations of the Bible and other religious canons. So offended are many religious organizations that the Archodiocesian Healthcare and Bioethics Committee of Milwaukee submitted a comment to HHS in September that these new requirements could be seen as “a deliberate strategy by the federal government to abolish the influence of the Catholic Church in civil society.”
Secretary Sebelius justifies this assault on our freedom of religion by stating that the requirement for religious organizations to cover all FDA approved contraceptives is the policy in a majority of states. While this is true of 28 states, she ignores the truth of protections in states like in New Mexico, where a religious entity is able to offer an insurance plan that does not include contraceptives. New Mexico’s policy is a commonsense approach that protects religious groups from arbitrary rules that violate their teachings.
This move by the administration is dangerously interfering with people of all faiths and their God. An America characterized by freedom of religion should not fall by the wayside with such an extensive government edict. This new rule from HHS is a gross violation of our rights as a free people and as people of faith. I call on President Obama to stop this latest mandate that unfairly targets people of certain faiths with whom he disagrees. People of all faiths and even people who practice no religion should be mortified at the federal government assuming it can discriminate against anyone for their beliefs.
The Constitution ensures the protections of the rule of law for the poor and the disadvantaged. The rich and well-connected always get their way. When the President ignores the Constitution, he infringes upon one of the greatest protections for the 99% of Americans.
Thomas J. Olmsted, the Bishop of Phoenix, said it best in a recent letter to his parishioners:
“Our parents and grandparents did not come to these shores to help build America’s cities and towns, its infrastructure and institutions, its enterprise and culture, only to have their posterity stripped of their God given rights.”
Amen, Bishop.
On January 20th, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced that the federal government would require all health insurance plans to cover sterilization and contraceptives, including abortion-inducing drugs, and that virtually all employers, including hospitals, schools and private universities with a religious affiliation, would have one year to comply with the new rule.
Steve Pearce is the US Representative for the Second Congressional District of New Mexico
