Listen to Bishop Lori on the HHS Mandate

Listen to Bishop Lori on the HHS Mandate
The relentless pursuit of the truth – www.cinopsbegone.com – Friday, March 16, 2012

“On Feb. 16th, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform conducted a high-profile forum, which featured Bishop Lori, as Baptist, Lutheran and Jewish leaders and church-affiliated university administration who opposed the “accommodation” as unacceptable.

“The Senate’s Respect for Rights of Conscience Act of 2012 would have provided a broad exemption to employers and insurance carriers who oppose specific health services for moral or religious reasons. The Blunt amendment was attached to a critical highway bill… the “accommodation” had only injected more confusion and election-year spin into what was once a straightforward protections for religious liberty & conscience rights.

“Opponents of the mandate now must counter a strongly partisan effort to characterize their campaign as an attempt to bar access to contraception rather than a defense of the free exercise of religion, protected under the First Amendment.

“EVER SINCE THE MANDATE HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED, FAIR IS FOUL, AND FOUL IS FAIR.” STATED BISHOP LORI expressing his frustration with an often contradictory political and media debate, which presents established jurisprudence on First Amendment rights, was an intolerable threat to the provision of basic health care. “Choice’ suddenly means ‘force,” said Bishop Lori.

“I emphasize this word ‘force’ precisely because it is one of the key differences between a mere dispute over ‘reproductive health policy’ and a dispute over religious over religious freedom. Those who would try to conceal that religious-freedom aspect have done all in their power to conceal the key element of government coercion,” he stated.

“This is not a matter of whether contraception may be prohibited by the government…. Instead it is a matter of whether religious people and institutions may be forced by the government to provide coverage for contraception or sterilization, even if that violates their religious beliefs….

“The Bridgeport bishop, for his part, sought to inject a note of realism and urgency amid rhetorical attacks and political theatre. “We are crossing the Rubicon,” he stated, pointing out that established jurisprudence and health-care ethics of Catholic hospitals had served the nation well and should not be dismantled… Rep. Lamar Smith, R – Tenn., the committee chairman, asked Bishop Lori to explain what changes were needed to address the bishops’ chief objections.

“Rescission was “the real way out of this,” Bishop Lorie replied. As approved, the federal rule unjustly required Catholic institutions to provide contraception, including abortion-inducing drugs. The rule forced Catholic institutions to be “a counter witness to our own teaching… We could be fined,” he said with “severe and crippling” fees.” (National Catholic Register, March 11 – 24, 2012)

George H. Kubeck Bishop Lori’s objections were challenged by the Assoc., of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, the Catholic Health Assoc., Conf. of Women Religious, & Sisters of Mercy of America and Sister Carol Keehan who in 2010 received $962,467 in salary. These so-called Catholic leaders do not support Church/First Amendment to the Constitution.