US Bishops: HHS regulations "literally unconscionable"
The administration of US President Barack Obama Obama on Friday announced that non-profit
employers – including the Catholic Church – will have one year to comply with new
regulations that order almost every employer and insurer in the country to provide
sterilization and contraceptives, including some abortion-inducing drugs, in their
health plans. The US Bishops have condemned the new rules, and are say they are committed
to working with all US citizens to reform the law and change the rules.
Below,
please find the full text of the communiqué from the Press Office of the USCCB, followed
by audio of USCCB president, Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan of New York.
The
Catholic bishops of the United States called “literally unconscionable” a decision
by the Obama Administration to continue to demand that sterilization, abortifacients
and contraception be included in virtually all health plans. Today's announcement
means that this mandate and its very narrow exemption will not change at all; instead
there will only be a delay in enforcement against some employers.
“In effect,
the president is saying we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences,”
said Cardinal-designate Timothy M. Dolan, archbishop of New York and president of
the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The cardinal-designate continued,
“To force American citizens to choose between violating their consciences and forgoing
their healthcare is literally unconscionable.It is as much an attack on access to
health care as on religious freedom. Historically this represents a challenge and
a compromise of our religious liberty."
The HHS rule requires that sterilization
and contraception – including controversial abortifacients – be included among “preventive
services” coverage in almost every healthcare plan available to Americans. “The government
should not force Americans to act as if pregnancy is a disease to be prevented at
all costs,” added Cardinal-designate Dolan.
At issue, the U.S. bishops and
other religious leaders insist, is the survival of a cornerstone constitutionally
protected freedom that ensures respect for the conscience of Catholics and all other
Americans.
“This is nothing less than a direct attack on religion and First
Amendment rights,” said Franciscan Sister Jane Marie Klein, chairperson of the board
at Franciscan Alliance, Inc., a system of 13 Catholic hospitals. “I have hundreds
of employees who will be upset and confused by this edict. I cannot understand it
at all.”
Daughter of Charity Sister Carol Keehan, president and chief executive
officer of the Catholic Health Association of the United States, voiced disappointment
with the decision. Catholic hospitals serve one out of six people who seek hospital
care annually.
“This was a missed opportunity to be clear on appropriate conscience
protection,” Sister Keehan said.
Cardinal-designate Dolan urged that the HHS
mandate be overturned.
“The Obama administration has now drawn an unprecedented
line in the sand,” he said. “The Catholic bishops are committed to working with our
fellow Americans to reform the law and change this unjust regulation. We will continue
to study all the implications of this troubling decision.” Chris Altieri introduces
the integral audio of Cardinal-designate Dolan's appeal: