RESPECT LIFE
Not Catholic enough
Earlier this month, at the National Prayer Breakfast, President Obama spoke at length about “living by the principle that we are our brother and sister’s keeper.” He spoke of the biblical call to care for the poor and those at the margins of society. “Biblical injunctions,” he said, “are not just words; they are also deeds.” He talked movingly about his own faith journey, and how it helps to shape so many of his presidential decisions.
Uh, about that new contraception insurance mandate? Not so much.
You’ve heard about this new requirement, by which the Obama administration is defining some of the fine points of the federal health care reform package enacted two years ago. This new Health and Human Services (HHS) rule will compel all employers, including religious employers, to provide birth control, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drug coverage to all employees. Of course, purchasing such insurance coverage violates the deeply-held religious beliefs of many employers, particularly Catholic employers, which will be forced to comply or face stiff financial penalties.
The Obama administration says that they have provided an adequate religious exemption from the new rule, but adequate it is not. In short, the only Church organizations that will be shielded from the insurance mandate are those which, among other things, are designed to serve only people of their own faith. I can’t think of a single Church agency that would meet that criterion.
Jesus commanded us to “love one another,” not to “love only Catholics.” If we are to live by the principle that we are our brother and sister’s keeper, then Catholic hospitals must tend to the sick, all the sick, be they Protestant, Muslim, Jewish or Catholic. Catholic charitable agencies must be charitable, and keep their doors open to all the destitute, disabled, addicted and oppressed, whether they practice our faith, another faith or no faith at all. Catholic schools and universities cannot eject from their classrooms students of another faith. It would be preposterous if they did.
It is an obscene oxymoron to suggest that Catholic agencies are somehow not religious enough because they care for all people in need.
We here in New York are not unfamiliar with such outrageous and hurtful discriminatory actions. In 2002 state lawmakers passed a similar contraceptive insurance mandate, with a similarly inadequate religious exemption. Since that time, dioceses and Church agencies have struggled to serve the underserved while remaining true to their ethical principles. Faith-based entities, both Catholic and non-Catholic, brought suit against the state over the mandate, fighting it all the way to the highest court, but ultimately losing the battle. They were denied a hearing in the U.S. Supreme Court. Some Church entities were forced to redesign their insurance programs or move to a federally-regulated system in order to escape the state-imposed requirement. Under the new federal rule, all such avenues of relief will be closed.
Last week’s announced “accommodation” by the White House does not do much to soften the blow. The HHS rule remains in effect — indeed, it was finalized in the “compromise” announcement — and a new rule was promised, sometime in the next year, that will “address the religious objections of non-exempted religious organizations.” Well, the devil is in the details, and we have no details. Just an outright attack on religious liberty, that continues to stand.
President Obama is rightly proud of the time he spent as a community organizer in Chicago, working with a group of Catholic and other churches in poor neighborhoods to help people find jobs, improve schools and better their families. He has said that it was through this service that he was brought to Christ. He has lived “faith in action.” Deep in his heart, he knows that the Bible requires such deeds, and that religious soup kitchens, medical clinics and homeless shelters are simply acting as the hands and feet of Jesus Christ, carrying on His ministry in the 21st century.
It is very difficult for me to reconcile this Barack Obama with the one who has completely disregarded the First Amendment rights of Catholics across this country with the new insurance rule. To belittle Catholic service and disrespect Catholic organizations by forcing them to violate their own moral teachings is the height of ideological arrogance. I do not pass judgment on the president or his religious beliefs. I ask him not to pass judgment on mine and presume to know better than Catholics what our faith does and does not oblige us to do.
All people of good will must raise their voices to stop this assault on religious freedom. If the president will not reverse course, then Congress must. Let your Congressional representatives and U.S. Senators know that the HHS contraception mandate is deeply offensive. Learn more and send messages to Congress by going to www.usccb.org/conscience. If you don’t have Internet access, you can call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected to your Congressional representative’s office.
About the Author
Columnist
Director of pro-life activities for the New York State Catholic Conference
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