From the USCCB website:
“Cardinal-designate 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.”
The U.S. Bishop’s webpage provides a link to an Action Alert. They provide more background regarding the current status of the regulation, including:
- 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.
The Bishops are asking for your help. Be sure to take the time to visit the above link and learn what you should do.
Deacon Mike Bickerstaff, Editor-in-Chief for The Integrated Catholic Life™, is the Director of Adult Education and Evangelization at his parish and a deacon of the Roman Rite for the Archdiocese of Atlanta.
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