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The Statue of Liberty surrounded by ominous dark clouds.

ACTION ALERT

Click HERE to Write to Congress TODAY

Never before has federal law forced citizens to purchase what violates their deeply held beliefs and ethical convictions. But now the Administration is forcing us to act as if pregnancy were a disease to be prevented at all costs. For many Americans that means choosing between violating our consciences and forgoing health care -- literally an unconscionable dilemma.

Our country's longstanding laws protecting conscience rights must now apply fully to the implementation of health care reform. For that we need more than rule-making, we need a law.

The bishops are urging Congress to support the "Respect for Rights of Conscience Act" in light of the new HHS rule and the "unprecedented threat to religious freedom" it poses.

Please CLICK HERE to join your voice with theirs and with the many organizations -- Catholic and non-Catholic -- who are fighting for religious liberty and conscience rights.

 

Conscience Protection

 

Bishops Vow to Fight Coercive HHS Mandate

On February 10, the Catholic bishops of the United States called for a renewed effort to change the HHS imposed mandate that violates religious liberty.

Please note: A Senate vote on the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act is expected as early as the week of February 27. The time to act is now!

Cardinal 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."

He urged Catholics and the public at large to speak out in protest. Watch his video & then take action today!

See the impressive list of links to the bishops' statements.

                   

USCCB Responds to Misleading White House Blog Entry

"White House Misrepresents Its Own Contraceptive Mandate"

The Obama administration, to justify its widely-criticized mandate for contraception and sterilization coverage in private health plans, has posted a set of false and misleading claims on the White House blog (“Health Reform, Preventive Services, and Religious Institutions,” February 1). This new USCCB fact sheet quotes and responds to each claim in turn.

More Background

On January 20, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reaffirmed a rule forcing virtually all private health care plans to cover sterilization, abortifacients, and contraception. These are listed among "preventive services for women" that all health plans will have to cover without co-pays or other cost-sharing -- regardless of whether the insurer, the employer or other plan sponsor, or even the woman herself objects to such coverage.

The exemption provided for "religious employers" was so narrow that it failed to cover the vast majority of faith-based organizations—including Catholic hospitals, universities, and charities—that help millions every year.  Ironically, not even Jesus and his disciples would have qualified for the exemption, because it excludes those who mainly serve people of another faith.

On February 10, the Obama Administration made this rule final “without change”; delayed enforcement for a year against religious nonprofits that were still not exempted (our charities, hospitals, and colleges); and promised to develop more regulations to “accommodate” them by the end of that additional year.  But that promised “accommodation” still forces them to pay for “services” that violate their religious convictions.

  • 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.
Now that the Administration has refused to recognize the Constitutional conscience rights of organizations and individuals who oppose the mandate, the bishops are now urging Catholics and others of good will to fight this unprecedented attack on conscience rights and religious liberty.

We urgently need legislation to correct the mandate’s threats to religious liberty and conscience rights. The Respect for Rights of Conscience Act has been introduced in Congress (H.R. 1179/S. 1467) to ensure that those who participate in the market for health insurance “retain the right to provide, purchase, or enroll in health coverage that is consistent with their religious beliefs and moral convictions.”

More than 400 Catholic leaders have called on Congress and the Administration to protect conscience rights in health care. The open letter appeared as a full page ad featuring over 150 of those leaders in the New York Times and the Washington Post on December 21. 

Get Informed & Take Action Now

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