"...an unprecedented attack on freedom of conscience and of religion."

"On January 20, 2012, it was announced that the Obama Administration has refused to rescind its requirement that sterilization, abortifacients and contraception be included in virtually all health plans by 2013, without regard for religious belief or conscience.

For the United States this is an unprecedented attack on freedom of conscience and of religion.  It prompts a troubling question as to just how far the heavy hand of government will go, despite protestations and assurances to the contrary, to impose what Pope Benedict has called ‘powerful new cultural currents which are not only directly opposed to core moral teachings of Judeo-Christian tradition, but increasingly hostile to Christianity as such.’  ‘It is imperative,’ the Pope says, ‘that the entire Catholic community in the United States come to realize the grave threats to the Church’s public moral witness presented by a radical secularism which finds increasing expression in the political and cultural spheres.

I urge everyone in the Diocese of Toledo, beginning with the clergy, to address this issue squarely, to inform people what is at stake, to prepare them to make sacrifices for their faith, to keep our country in
their prayers, and to work to overturn what we Bishops have called a ‘literally unconscionable’ decision by the Obama Administration."

Important Points About This Decision

The contraceptive mandate imposed on health plans by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) violates freedom of conscience, which is guaranteed by the First Amendment and several federal laws. The Bill of Rights says we are free to live by our religious beliefs. Forcing all of us to buy coverage for sterilization and contraceptives, including drugs that induce abortion, is a radical incursion into freedom of conscience.

Never before in U.S. history has the federal government forced citizens to directly purchase what violates their beliefs. The Supreme Court recently declared in the Hosanna-Tabor case that the Constitution gives a priority place to Freedom of Religion.

HHS created this mandate after Congress asked it to develop a list of services all health plans should provide without co-pay. Instead of keeping with the prevention of diseases like breast cancer, sexually transmitted diseases and gestational diabetes, HHS took it upon itself to include sterilizations, contraceptives and abortion- inducing drugs.

Even states with similar mandates have a broader conscience exemption, or at least allow employers to self-insure or to choose a plan without prescription drug coverage if they have a conscientious objection to underwriting abortion, contraceptive and sterilization. This mandate forces virtually all insurance plans to offer such services.

If the Administration will not rescind this violation of the First Amendment, Congress must do so.

Click here to read a letter from Bishop Blair concerning the mandate.

Click here to watch a video with Archbishop Dolan on this subject.

USCCB says US Bishops vow to fight HHS edict. Click here to read.

Your Representative's contact information: Click here.