The Catholic Defender: Wake Up America

To understand the current war between President Obama and the Progressive Left with the Christian Right, the conservatives, it is important to understand the foundation of Progressivism.

Progressivism is an ideology that stems back to Europe and the Industrial Revolution.  

Progressivism maintains and fosters the advancement of a secular state.  It is embodied in Marxism, Socialism, and Communism.   

This is why it has been seen as anti-American by the vast majority of Americans.   

The Progressive movement 100 years ago began pushing for European models on health care going back to Theodore Roosevelt, after losing the Republican bid for President, was picked up by the Progressive Party who then ran on a universal health care system.    

What the Progressives seek to do is bring about change due to science, technology, the economy, and social development.  

The more you understand this, the more you see Obama’s rhetoric calling for change being a ruse for this change.   

Universal health care is an ongoing attempt by the progressives to take over control of the Government, which would empower itself to maintain power over the people.  

Any opposition will be squashed.  Obama’s attempt to take over the health care system in the United States was built upon beginning with Theodore Roosevelt.  

Consider our Presidents who would try to condition our society for such a takeover: 

Presidents Franklin Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon (only Republican), Carter, and Clinton.  

Clinton’s (Hilarycare) attempt is noteworthy because of the great opposition that caused the takeover to be tabled.    

The Progressives simply waited until they took back both houses and finally, Obama. 

Once the Progressives, embodied in the Democratic Party, gained a majority, they took advantage of pushing for this Universal Health Care.   

A bill that has 11,000 pages on regulations not even counting the bill itself.  It is a monster.   

Nancy Pelosi called for voting for the bill so you can see what is in the bill.  Despite 70% of the American people’s opposition to the bill, the Democrats passed the bill in Congress without one Republican vote.   

How did the Progressives do it? By taking piece by piece a dismantling of American freedoms.   

The war on Christmas, the continued secularism of America, the war on religion coupled by the dumbing down of America. 

Developing a class of dependence on the Government by many people has led to where we are today.   

Obama has increased American dependence on Government to such a degree that people are becoming entrenched towards a socialized state.  

Food stamps is a perfect example, millions upon millions.

Obamacare cripples the American economy taking 1/6^th of the overall cost.  We cannot afford such a dragon that will bring America down the road of Greece bringing bankruptcy.  

All of this has a goal that the Progressives really want, and that is a move towards a single-payer system.  

It matters not what the American people stand for that concern the Progressives, it is power that emboldens the Progressive.   

America better wake up before it is too late.   

The Progressives have taken over the mainstream media, Hollywood, the Judicial Branch and they want to take you as well.  

Obama’s war on the Catholic Church is but a strategy to arrive at an end goal.  Total dependence to man.

President Ronald Reagan warned:

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free."

 The Virgin Mary at Fatima told the children, “Say the Rosary every day to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war... If they do what I tell you, many souls will be saved, and there will be peace. The war is going to end [World War I]. But if they do not stop offending God, another and worse one will begin in the reign of Pius XI... When you see a night illumined by an unknown light, know that it is the great sign that God gives you that He is going to punish the world for its crimes by means of war, of hunger, and of persecution of the Church and of the Holy Father."

The virgin Mary reminds the children of Fatima that men “must amend their lives and ask forgiveness for their sins,” and that they “offend the Lord God no more, for He is already much offended”. This is intended to be for the whole Church. Praying the family Rosary is a great sign of predestination.

 How important is that? The Virgin Mary at Fatima after giving the Children of Fatima a vision of Hell (13 July 1917), told them: "You see Hell, where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them God wishes to establish in the world the devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If they do what I will tell you, many souls will be saved, and there will be peace... But if they do not stop offending God... He is going to punish the world for its crimes by means of war, of hunger, and of persecution of the Church and of the Holy Father." 

If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated.

Consider what takes place soon after the Fatima message, in 1917, the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia began a systematic persecution of the Church and many nations were forced into the "Iron Block" of the Soviet Union.  

In 1926, the Communist influence is felt in Mexico where again, a massive persecution of the Church takes place.  I find it interesting that the Progressive movement in the United States can be traced to that time period as well and today, the battle for America continues.  America is truly in the sites of Our Lady from Heaven.  That is very good news, but Satan continues to seek America for himself. 

I was just thinking that with all the problems Obamacare has had with it's website, is it possible that Heaven is responsible? I can't help but think that as we see great success with the internet.  Consider Facebook, You-tube,  Myspace, these continue to do well, yet Obamacare had three years to prepare, spent over $650,000,000 for it, and it is a mess.  Is this a travesty that can sink itself? With the help of Heaven, Senator Ted Cruz, and Sean Hannity, maybe this will loudly go away.

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The Catholic Defender: Hold The Line

Editors update: I just spoke with Representatives and their Staff Workers that the American people are calling in about 5 to 1 in favor of the Republicans.  Please keep the ball rolling, especially for those who are buckling.

President Obama speaking earlier today basically said that the Republicans were afraid of their Right-wing extremist...  Well, if you are a faithful follower of Jesus Christ, that makes you an "extremist"!

We are in the struggle of our lifetime.  We are sitting back and watching it unfold right before us.  If Obamacare does move forward, America will never be the same again.

We need the Republicans to hold the line and not let go because the stakes are so high.  Religious Freedom is key for all Christians.

Look at how the media is blaming the Republicans.  We need them to know that the vast majority of Americans do support them.

Look what President Obama and Senator Harry Reid have done everything to shut down the Government thinking they can get Americans to blame Republicans.  The sad thing is that the drive by media is helping the Democrats because they want to see the liberal goal go into effect.

Look at how many bills the House of Representatives have sent to the Senate? All of them paying for the requirements to pay all the bills.  They want to simply postpone Obamacare for a year which Obama himself did for his constituents and supporters.  Why can't the common man who needs the support get it just as Obama promised big business?

Just the past two days, the Democrats rejected a House bill that would open up the WWII National Monuments and other parks.

The Veterans are left depending on the support of the Republicans coming down and open up these barricades Obama had set up.

The Democrats are showing that their agenda means more to them than their listening to the American people.

The WWII Veterans who stormed Normandy and Iwo Jima were being barred from going to the monument the deserved to see.  These warriors now in their 90's many with wheel chairs, others with strollers came from Mississippi.  Obama and Reid would have left them out in the cold.  All for politics!

Obama sent more guards and support against the 90 year old WWII Veterans at the WW II Memorial than he did to help the Benghazi Embassy?

We are 17 trillion dollars in debt, 40% of every dollar is going to China.  Obamacare which is Socialized medicine that has been failing in every European Nation who has tried it.  In fact, they are trying to get out from under their health care because they are all broke and can't afford it.  We can't afford it either.

Oct 17 will begin another fight as President Obama will want the Congress to raise the debt ceiling so they can continue to tax and spend.  This is really the heart of why Senator Reid and the Democrats have not submitted a budget in the 5 years they have been the majority in the Senate.  The "CR's" are to keep the public ignorant to how much money they waste in Washington.

From Donald Trump, he sums Obamacare this way:

Let me get this straight . . ..We’re going to be “gifted” with a health care plan we are forced to purchase and fined if we don’t, Which purportedly covers at least ten million more people, without adding a single new doctor, but provides for 16,000 new IRS agents, written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn’t understand it, passed by a Congress that didn’t read it but exempted themselves from it, and signed by a Dumbo President who smokes, with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn’t pay his taxes, for which we’ll be taxed for four years before any benefits take effect, by a government which has already bankrupted Social Security and Medicare, all to be overseen by a surgeon general who is obese, and financed by a country that’s broke! ‘What the hell could possibly go wrong?’

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The Catholic Defender: Senator Ted Cruz

Senator Ted Cruz, my hats off to you and thank you for being a leader who is truly seeking to defund Obamacare.

At a time when people are giving platitudes of their opposition to Obamacare, you are actually doing something about it.

You stood up for more than 21 hours trying to bring into focus for the American people what is at stake with Obamacare.

I listened to your interview with Rush Limbaugh just moments after spending nearly 2 days on the Senate floor.  Even then, you came off totally sincere in your convictions to overturn Obamacare.

For some of you who might not have been following the problems with Obamacare, consider some of the following.

1.  When they passed Obamacare, there was an American cry to kill the bill, Nancy Pelosi and Company ramrodded this bill through against the American people's opposition at 70%.

2.  Nancy Pelosi called to vote for the bill so they could actually read what was in it?  In other words, it was a vast Government take over of basic American freedoms.  Since people have read the bill, 70% of the American people support defunding the bill.

3.  From Forbes Magazine:    Based on a Manhattan Institute analysis of the HHS numbers, Obamacare will increase underlying insurance rates for younger men by an average of 97 to 99 percent, and for younger women by an average of 55 to 62 percent. Worst off is North Carolina, which will see individual-market rates triple for women, and quadruple for men.

4.  Forbes Magazine:    Worst off was Nebraska, where the difference between the cheapest plan under the old system and under Obamacare was 279 percent for men, and 227 percent for women: more than triple the old rate. Faring best was Colorado, where rates will decline for both 27-year-old men and women by 36 percent. The only other state to see a rate decline in this analysis was New Hampshire: 8 percent for both men and women.

5.  Forbes Magazine:    For this cohort, men fared worst in North Carolina, with rate increases of 305 percent. Women got hammered in Nebraska, where rates will increase by a national high of 237 percent. Again, Colorado and New Hampshire fared best, with 17 percent and 5-8 percent declines, respectively.

6.  Forbes Magazine:     In the 13 states plus D.C., a 27-year-old would have to make 59 percent of the median income of his peers, or less, to come out ahead with regard to Obamacare’s subsidies. A 40-year-old would have to make less than 57 percent of the median income for his peers. On the other hand, older people fare better; the average 64-year-old who makes less than 111 percent of the median income for 64-year-olds will spend less on premiums than he did before.

7.  Forbes Magazine:     The Obama administration knows this, which is why its 15-page report makes no mention of premiums for insurance available on today’s market. Silence, they say, speaks louder than words. HHS’ silence on the difference between Obamacare’s insurance premiums and those available today tell you everything you need to know. Rates are going higher. And if you’re healthy, or you’re young, the Obama administration expects you to do your duty and pay up.

8.  The Heritage Foundation:     Nearly one-quarter of all seniors rely on Medicare Advantage, the private health care option in Medicare. However, Obamacare makes such deep cuts to that program that half of those covered will no longer be able to keep the coverage they have.

9.  The Heritage Foundation:     New taxes on drug companies ($27 billion) and medical device makers ($20 billion), as well as new reporting requirements and regulations imposed on physicians, will make access to health care and services more costly and difficult for seniors under Obamacare.

The following is from the Heritage Foundation, Obamacare: "The Top Ten Reasons it is wrong for America" 

Revised and updated September 16, 2009
 

1. Millions Will Lose Their Current Insurance. Period. End of Story: President Obama wants Americans to believe they can keep their insurance if they like, but research from the government, private research firms, and think tanks show this is not the case. The economic incentives plus a government-run health plan as proposed in the House bill (H.R. 3200), would cause 88.1 million people to see their current employer-sponsored health plan disappear.
2. Individual Mandate Means Less Liberty and More Taxes: Although he once opposed the idea, President Obama is now open to the imposition of an individual mandate that would require all Americans to have federally approved health insurance. This unprecedented federal directive not only takes away your individual freedom but could cost you as well. Lawmakers are considering a penalty or tax for those who don't buy government-approved health plans.
3. Your Health Care Coverage Will Probably Change Anyway: Even if you kept your private insurance, eventually most remaining plans--whether employer plans or individual plans--would have to conform to new federal benefit standards. Moreover, the necessary plan "upgrades" will undoubtedly cost you more in premiums.
4. The Umpire Is Also the First Baseman: The main argument for a "public option" is that it would increase competition. However, if the federal government creates a health care plan that it controls and also sets the rules for the private plans, there is little doubt that Washington would put its private sector "competitors" out of business sooner or later.
5. The Fed Picks Your Treatment: President Obama said: "They're going to have to give up paying for things that don't make them healthier...If there's a blue pill and a red pill, and the blue pill is half the price of the red pill and works just as well, why not pay half for the thing that's going to make you well." Does that sound like a government that will stay out of your health care decisions?
6. Higher Taxes Than Europe Hurt Small Businesses: A proposed surtax on the wealthy, included in the House Bill (H.R. 3200), will actually hit hundreds of thousands of small business ownerswho are dealing with a recession. If it is enacted, America's top earners and job creators will carry a larger overall tax burden than France, Italy, Germany, Japan, etc., with a total average tax rate greater than 52%. Is that the right recipe for jobs and wage growth?
7. Who Makes Medical Decisions? What is the right medical treatment and should bureaucrats determine what Americans can or cannot have? While the House and Senate language is vague, amendments offered in House and Senate committees to block government rationing of care were routinely defeated. Cost or a federal health board could be the deciding factors. President Obama himself admitted this when he said, "Maybe you're better off not having the surgery, but taking the painkiller," when asked about an elderly woman who needed a pacemaker.
8. Taxpayer-Funded Abortions?Nineteen Democrats recently asked the President to not sign any bill that doesn't explicitly exclude "abortion from the scope of any government-defined or subsidized health insurance plan" or any bill that allows a federal health board to "recommend abortion services be included under covered benefits or as part of a benefits package." Currently, these provisions do not exist.
9. It's Not Paid For: The CBO says the current House plan would increase the deficit by $239 billion over 10 years. And that number will likely continue to rise over the long term. Similar entitlement bills in the past, including Medicare, have scored much lower than their actual eventual cost. A new study released by the Peterson Foundation estimates the House bill would add $1 trillion to the deficit in the second decade.
10. Rushing It, Not Reading It: We've been down this road before--with the failed stimulus package. Back then, we also heard that we were in a crisis and that we needed to pass a 1,000-plus-page bill in a few hours--without reading it--or we would have 8% unemployment. Well, we know what happened. One Congressman even said it's pointless to read the reform bills without two days and two lawyers to make sense of it. Deception is the only reason to rush through a bill nobody truly understands.  

Notice that none of this addresses the war on the Catholic Church which should be a huge concern for Christians.  Where is the public outcry? Ted Cruz is a Southern Baptist who is taking this threat seriously.  Can we call on our Catholic Senators to jump on board to defund this bill? This bill is coming next week and once it is implemented, it is not going away.  Our national debt will continue to plunge deeper and deeper into and empty pit.

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The Catholic Defender: Defund the Bill

The Republicans in the House of Representatives voted to defund the Bill, which means to defund Obama-care.

This presents a very interesting situation in Washington because the Liberal establishment is pushing for it. 

Let's take a quick look at some of the problems of Obama-care which is about to be implemented in a few weeks if it is not stopped.

The effect that Obama-care is already having on our economy is being felt.  The impact that is harmful, is going to affect every part of American life in a very negative way. 

The Cleveland Clinic is reportedly planning to lay off nearly 3,000 workers in anticipation for Obama-care.  They have to slash $300,000,000 to cut cost.  This is one of the very clinics that President Obama went to present his plan.

Hundreds of franchise owners throughout the Country converged on Washington claiming that Obama-care will force them to cut worker hours to under a 30 hour work week to avoid the higher cost.

In Connecticut, the Lawrence and Memorial Hospital has already cut several jobs because of Obama-Care

The Stryker Corp laid off 1,170 employees because of Obama-care.  This is the tip of the iceberg as this debate continues to rage in Washington. 

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons is petitioning to Congress to defund Obama-care.  The National Doctors Association is joining the petition to stop Obama-care.

For Catholics, Obama-care will include abortion services and Artificial Birth Control will be forced upon Catholic institutions, hospitals, doctors, nurses, and para-professionals.  The Hyde Amendment will be struck down which defends a Christians right of conscience.

In reference to abortion, the position of the Obama Administration states, “…any girl who is physically mature enough to conceive should, ipso facto, be granted the freedom to determine the fate of her pregnancies.”

I will never forget Nancy Pelosi and her Liberal Democrat establishment defying the American people who opposed Obama-care at 70%.  As Nancy Pelosi marched with a large gavel, thousands of people were saying, "kill the bill".

After a number of years since, the American people still opposes Obama-care nearly at the 70% rate.  Now the American people are calling for Congress to "defund the Bill", because this is going to be a Government takeover that will encompass 1/7 of our economy.   We simply cannot afford this.

We are nearly 17 trillion dollars in debt, we should be very concerned about the quality of the health care they will receive.

The Health Care systems in Europe that inspires the Obama Administration has been sending warnings because many of the European Nations cannot continue to afford Socialism's version of health care.  They are going broke.

The greater concern that Americans will lose their quality of heath care is a real threat.  There will be longer waiting time for surgeries, if you even qualify.  Will you lose your choice for health care? It looks like many will not have a choice.

Time is running short and this might be the last real opportunity to stop Obama-care.  If it is implemented, it will be so entrenched they will be no getting out of it.

Because of Obama-care, our religious freedoms that are safeguarded by the American Constitution will be threatened.  I encourage you to call your Senator to defund Obama-care (202-224-3121).

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Catholic Defender: RIP Andrew BrietBart

Today, at age 43, Andrew Brietbart passed away due to "natural" causes. Mr. Brietbart had been a champion for conservative causes.

Despite early liberal influences in his life, he would change his political views as a result of the Clarence Thomas hearings.

From that time on, there was no looking back. He wrote conservatively for the Huffington Post and the Drudge Report that was coined the "New Media".

I remember watching him on Fox News defending the conservative positions at various times.

He was involved with exposing the Anthony Weiner sexting scandal that ultimately caused Weiner's resignation.

Anthony Brietbart would speak at key Tea Party events across the United States.

I remember that fateful day when Nancy Pelosi marched through the vast crowd calling for the defeat of Obama Care.

She carried that large gavel to taunt the crowd.

The liberal press made the accusation that the Tea Party "Activists" hurled racial slurs at the Representatives as they went through the crowd.

Some went on to say that the Tea Party Activists "spit" at them.

Mr. Brietbart offered to pay $100,000 dollars to the "United Negro College Fund" if they can find any proof of such racial slurs, to this point, there are no takers.

Interestingly, the media was all over the event and can not find any such incident. Andrew Brietbart could be seen challenging the Wall Street Protestors who were disrupting business in New York and branced to many cites across America.

In their wake, there was violence, rape, and even murder. In Oakland, several police were hurt in dealing with these protestors.

The following are some of the controversies uncovered by Andrew Brietbart and associates as found in Wiki:

Anthony Weiner

Main article: Anthony Weiner sexting scandal

On May 28, 2011, Breitbart posted a sexually explicit photo on his Big Journalism website of New York Representative Anthony Weiner obtained through Weiner's Twitter account. Weiner initially denied that he had sent a 21-year-old female college student the link to the photograph, but after questions developed, he admitted to inappropriate online relationships. On June 6, 2011 Breitbart reported other photos Weiner had sent, including one that was sexually graphic. On June 8, 2011, the sexually graphic photo was leaked after Breitbart participated in a radio interview with hosts Opie and Anthony, though Breitbart stated that the photo was published without his permission. Weiner subsequently resigned from his congressional seat on June 21, 2011.

Shirley Sherrod

Main article: Resignation of Shirley Sherrod

On July 19, 2010, Breitbart posted two short videos showing excerpts of a speech by Shirley Sherrod at an NAACP fundraising dinner in March 2010. The ensuing controversy resulted in Sherrod being fired from the United States Department of Agriculture on July 19. After Breitbart was criticized for taking Sherrod's words out of context, he posted the complete 40-minute video of the speech. The NAACP stated that the video excerpts aired by Breitbart were deliberately deceptive and said that he had "snookered" the group. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack later apologized to Sherrod and offered her a new job. In 2011, Sherrod brought suit against Breitbart for defamation.

ACORN undercover videos

Main article: ACORN 2009 undercover videos controversy

Breitbart was also involved in the 2009 ACORN video controversy. Hannah Giles posed as a prostitute seeking assistance while James O'Keefe portrayed her boyfriend, and clandestinely videotaped meetings with ACORN staff. Subsequent criminal investigations by the Brooklyn District Attorney's office and the California Attorney General found the videos were heavily edited in an attempt to make ACORN's responses "appear more sinister", and contributed to the group's demise. Breitbart then provided a forum for O'Keefe on his Big Government.com websites and defended his actions on Sean Hannity's Fox News Channel program. Notice how the liberal media responds to Andrew BrietBart? And yes, the Protestors did in fact commit murder, they committed rape, they desecrated the parks in the most vile ways.

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The Catholic Defender: HHS, Obama's New Gestapo

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has been hijacked by an elitist leftist group of Progressives.

I recently wrote "Obama's War on Catholicism" that I share my concern for the future of our Country.

Today, the Catholics issued a letter to be read in all our Parish's informing the public of the HHS ruling. This will affect each and everyone of us.

What it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.

Our Shephards are calling for us to stand up and be counted.

First pray for the Bishops as they are going to be targeted.

Pray for all our Priests who will have to lead the fight. Pray for the whole people of God that religious libverty will be fully maintained. The following is a response from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops:

BackGround: THE NEW FEDERAL MANDATE FOR CONTRACEPTION/STERILIZATION COVERAGE

On August 1, 2011, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued an 'interim final rule' to require virtually all private health plans to include coverage for all FDA-approved prescription contraceptives, female sterilization procedures, and related 'patient education and counseling for all women with reproductive capacity.' These are listed among 'preventive services for women' that all health plans will have to include without co-pays or other cost-sharing -- even if the insurer, the employer or other plan sponsor, or the woman herself object to such coverage. There have been many protests, including formal comments filed with the HHS by many organizations and a petition signed by over 430 Catholic leaders (see www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/religious-liberty/conscience-protection/). However, on January 20, 2012, HHC decided not to make any significant change in its rule. Important points:

1. Pregnancy Not a Disease

- The mandate treats a healthy pregnancy as a disease in need of 'prevention,' like breast cancer or AIDS (which other 'preventative services' on HHS's list do legitimately seek to prevent). In reality, some of the mandated contraceptives are associated with an increased risk of AIDS, blood clots leading to stroke, and other ailments. Inclusion of these drugs places HHS's efforts to prevent disease at war with itself.

- The claim that greater access to contraceptives will reduce abortions is not supported by the facts (http://old.usccb.org/prolife/issues/contraception/contraception-fact-sheet-3-17-11.pdf). The contraceptive mandate's strongest advocates are groups that perform and promote abortion, who hope a coverage mandate for 'prevention' will encourage government and others to see abortion as a 'cure'.

- Everyone deserves access to basic life-affirming health care, and health care reform is supposed to serve that goal. The effect of this mandate is just the opposite, as it pressures organizations to drop their health coverage for emplyees and others altogether if they have a moral or religious objection to these particular item.

2 The Problem of Abortifacient Drugs

- By requiring coverage for all drugs approved for contraception and 'emergency contraception' by the FDA, the mandate includes drugs that can interfere with implantation in the womb and therefore destroy the early human embryo.

- One such drug already approved, 'Ella' (ulipristal), is similar to the abortion drug RU-486 in its formula and its ability to cause an abortion in the first weeks of pregnancy. The new health care reform law forbids HHS to mandate coverage of abortion, but it is doing so here.

3 Violating Religious Freedom and Rights of Conscience

- The rule has an incredible narrow religious exemption for 'religious employers' (not insurers, schools with student health plans, or families purchasing insurance). Even religious employers are exempt only if their purpose is to inculcate religious doctrine, they hire and serve mainly people of their own faith, and they qualify as a church or religious order in a narrow part of the tax code. Most religious institutions providing health, educational or charitable services to others have no protection. Jesus himself would not qualify as 'religious enough,' since he healed the needy regardless of religious affiliation and taught followers to do the same (see the parable of the Good Samaritan).

- HHC says this exemption is like those enacted by most states that have a contraceptive coverage mandate, but that is false. None of the state mandates covers as wide an array of health plans, and the great majority have broader protection for religious freedom.

- Many federal laws exempt individuals and institutions from having to take part in health services against their moral or religious convictions; some of these laws specifically protect from forced involvement in contraception or sterilization (http://old.usccb.org/prolife/issues/abortion/crmay08.pdf). HHS is violating this long federal tradition, and needs to return to it. Congress should also appreve the 'Respect for Rights of Conscience Act' (H.R. 1179, S. 1467) to ensure that this happens.

THE HHS MANDATE FOR CONTRACEPTION/STERILIZATION COVERAGE: AN ATTACK OF RIGHTS OF CONSCIENCE

How important is the right of conscience in American tradition?

It has always been a paramount importance: 'No provision in our Constitution ought to be dearer to man than that which protects the rights of conscience against enterprises of the civil authority' (Thomas Jefferson, 1809). In the past, has the federal government respected conscientious objections to procedures such as sterilization that may violate religious beliefs or moral convictions? Yes. For example, a law in effect since 1973 says that no individual is required to take part in 'any part of a health service program or research activity funded in whole or in part under a program administered by the Secretary of Health and Human Services' if it is 'contrary to his religious beliefs or moral convictions' (42 USC 300a-7 (d). Even the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, which requires most of its health plans to cover contraception, exempts religiously affiliated plans and protects the conscience rights of health professionals in the other plans. Currently no federal law requires anyone to purchase, sell, sponsor, or be covered by a private health plan that violates his or her consscience.

How has the Department of Health and Human Services departed from this policy?

By Issuing a mandate for coverage of sterization and contraceptives (including long-lasting injections and implants, and 'morning-after pills' that may cause an early abortion) in virtually all private health plans. In August 2011 HHS included these procedures in a list of 'preventive services for women' to be required in health plans issued on or after August 1, 2012. On January 20,2012, HHS reaffirmed its mandate while deferring enforcement against some religious employers until August 2013.

Is it appropriate to require coverage of these as 'preventive services'?

No. The other services on HHS's list seek to prevent serious disease - breast cancer, lung cancer, AIDS. Pregnancy is not a disease. The Institute of Medicine committee that compiled the 'preventive services' list for HHS said in its report that unintended pregnancy is a 'condition for which safe and effective prevention and treatment' need to be more widely available - setting the stage for mandated coverage of abortion as the 'treatment' when prevention fails. Note that women who suffer from infertility, which really is an illness, were ignored in this mandate.

Didn't HHS include a religious exemption?

Yes, an incredibly narrow 'religious employer' exemption that fails to protect many, perhaps most, religious employers. To be eligible an organization must meet four strict criteria, including the requirement that it both hire and serve primarily people of its own faith. Catholic schools and hospitals would have to eject their non-Catholic employees, students and patients, or purchase health coverage that violates their moral and religious teaching. Jesus and his apostles would not have been 'religious enough' for the exemption, since they healed and served people of different faiths. The exemption provides no protection at all to sponsors and providers of health plans for the general public, to pr0-life people who own business, or to individuals with a moral or religious objection to these procedures.

Isn't this an aspect of the Administration's drive for broader access to health care for all?

Whether or not it was intended that way, it has the opposite effect. People will not be free to keep the coverage they have now that respects their convictions. Organizations with many employees will have to violate their consciences or stop offering health benefits altogether. And resources needed to provide basic health care to the uninsured will be used instead to facilitate IUDs and Depo-Provera for those who already had ample coverage. This is a diversion away from universal health care.

But won't this provide 'free birth control' for American women?

That claim is false for two reasons. First, the coverage will be mandated, not a matter of free choice for any woman. Second, insurance companies will not be able to charge a co-pay or deductible for the coverage, so they will simply add the cost to the standard premium everyone has to pay - and among those being required to pay will be people who oppse it on conscience grounds. That is not victory for freedom.

By objecting to this coverage, is the Catholic Church discriminating against women?

Not at all. The Church's teaching against early abortion is based on respect for all human life, male and female. It's teaching against contraception and sterilization is based on respect for the power to help generate a new human life, a power held by both men and women - so health plans in accord with Catholic teaching do not cover male or female sterilization. It is the HHS mandate that shows disregard for women, by forcing them to purchase this coverage whether they want it or not.

Do religious employers violate the consciences of women who want birth control, by refusing to cover it in their employee health plans?

No, they simply decline to provide active support for procedures that violate their own consciences. If an employee disagrees, he or she can simply purchase that coverage or those procedures elsewhere.

What solution to this dispute would be acceptable?

Ideally, HHS can leave the law the way it has always been, so those who provide, sponsor and purchase health coverage can make their own decisions about whether to include these procedures without the federal government imposing one answer on everyone. If HHS refuses, it will be especially urgent for Congress to pass the 'Respect for Rights of Conscience Act' (HR 1179/S. 1467). to prevent health care reform act from being used to violate insurers' and purchasers' moral and religious beliefs.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, acting as Shephards, are alerting the faithful to the coming danger that will ensnare us all if we do not stand up against this terrible threat against human life and religious freedom.

This November will be the most important elections in our times. Pray the Rosary for the conversion of sinners, pray and fast for our nation as it is in great need for the Church to take a stand.

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