Hhs Mandate

The Catholic Church’s First Amendment Right to Freedom of Religion is being by President Obama’s Health Care Bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and more specifically the HHS Mandate, which is the section of Obamacare that deals with contraceptive materials, abortions, so on and so forth. The Church has made its stance on abortion and birth control very clear. Obama is going directly against the beliefs of Catholics. The HHS Mandate is unconstitutional. It would force employers who might be Catholic to provide health care plans that would include contraceptive materials, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs, which completely disregards the Catholics’ freedom of religion. The President made an explicit promise to the Bishops of the Catholic Church that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act would not have anything to do with abortion and birth control. This was, apparently, a blatant lie. According to Kathleen Gilbert, a journalist for LifeSiteNews.com, “To
Dalton 2 comply with the accounting requirement, plans will collect a separate $1 abortion surcharge from each premium payer… being forced to pay for abortion-subsidizing plans is ‘just as bad’ as directly paying for the abortions themselves;” (LifeSiteNews). The fact is that this bill is unconstitutional and that the President told a lie to gain the support of a major group, which should put Obama on immediate grounds for impeachment. As impeachment is quite extreme though, it is more likely that this bill may lose President Obama many of the Catholic supporters that he had in the 2008 election.
The first line of the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States reads as follows: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” (Cornell). Possibly the most controversial section of President Barak Obama’s Health Care Bill is that which breaches Catholics’ First Amendment Right to freely practice their beliefs. Obama’s Bill would force all employers, including Catholics, to provide health care to their employees that would include contraceptive materials, etc. The President had a meeting with Timothy Dolan, a Cardinal of the Catholic Church and current Archbishop of New York city. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Cardinal Dolan spoke to journalist James Taranto about his meeting with the President:
“I said, 'I 've heard you say, first of all, that you have immense regard for the work of the Catholic Church in the United States in health care, education and charity. . . . I have heard you say that you are not going to let the administration do anything to impede that work and. . . that
Dalton 3 you take the protection of the rights of conscience with the utmost seriousness. . . . Does that accurately sum up our conversation? ' [Mr. Obama] said, 'You bet it does. '" (WSJ). Dolan reported that he was quite surprised when he received a call from President Obama in January, basically telling him that the mandates concerning contraception were going to stay in place and the Church had until August to find a way to comply. Cardinal Dolan admirably replied, “‘Well, sir, we don 't need the [extra time]. I can tell you now we 're unable to comply.’” (WSJ). Obama clearly lied to the Cardinal, as well as all of the bishops of the United States. It isn’t just church officials and politicians that are publicly opposing The HHS Mandate. When asked how the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act infringes on Catholics’ Right to Freedom of Religion, Dr. Karen Dalton, a medical doctor, a crisis pregnancy counselor at FOCUS Pregnancy Help Center, and Catholic mother of 3, gave a passionate response:
The Obama administration 's infringement is twofold: 1) they have taken it upon themselves to determine the definition of what constitutes a religious entity and have decided that to qualify, the entity must employ AND minister only to members of its religion. Jesus and his apostles would not have met this definition, and certainly Catholic Hospitals and schools/universities do not. 2) entities that do not meet the administration 's narrow definition will be required by the mandate to provide with their health insurance FOR FREE -no co pay-sterilization, contraceptives and drugs such Dalton 4 as 'the morning-after pill '. These are considered morally evil by the church. Several types of birth control options involve the destruction of fertilized embryos by making the lining of the mother 's uterus inhospitable to implantation. Since the Catholic Church holds that human life begins at the moment of conception, these methods constitute murder. The administration has therefore taken it upon itself to attempt to coerce the Church and any Catholic employer into purchasing insurance that violates deeply held religious convictions or face crippling financial penalties and/or arrest. The First Amendment is clear that the government cannot do this. That is why 43 Catholic entities filed suit [on May 21st] to block the HHS mandate. (Interview).
Due to her knowledge as a physician, her work at the pregnancy center, and extensive research into the teachings of the Catholic Church, Dr. Dalton is well versed in both the effects of birth control and abortion as well as the Church’s beliefs on the issue. Another injustice that the Obama administration is committing against the Catholic Church is portraying the church as having declared a “war on women” because of their pro-life stance. Again reverting to her knowledge as a doctor, Dr. Dalton goes talks about the actual medical facts of what effects birth control and abortions have on a woman’s body. Most artificial birth control is one of several forms of hormonal manipulation. These medications (artificial estrogens and progestins, two of the female reproductive hormones) have been
Dalton 5 classified for years by the World Health Organization as Class I carcinogens, meaning they have been documented to significantly increase cancer risk… It is clear from many studies that women who start taking the pill before they are eighteen and for more than 10 years have dramatically (over 200%) increased risk of breast cancer. The pill also raises the risk of getting liver cancer, cervical cancer, STD’s, depression, and high blood pressure. (Interview).
It seems that, contradictory to what popular media and the Presidential administration are broadcasting, it seems that anyone who supports birth control is really the group that is waging a war on women. When the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act officially named birth control a “preventative drug” it essentially deemed pregnancy a disease. The Obama administration has seemingly degraded the miracle of life into something that is an unwanted sickness that needs to be prevented and avoided. The HHS Mandate denounces another Catholic belief, abstinence, in a sense, by providing abortion and birth control for free. The message that is being sent is “go have sex wherever you want, we’ll take care of any unwanted pregnancies with our little pill.” This is the exact opposite of what the church teaches. Catholic teaching not only encourages sex as a means of procreation, but also “views sex as the ultimate beautiful expression of love between married spouses;” (Epigee). Obamacare is bastardizing the true meaning of sex and portraying it as just something “fun to do”, which totally undermines yet another church teaching. One thing that the Obama administration has done to sway public opinion is introduce a “religious exemption” for contraceptive coverage. It seems that what the President would
Dalton 6 consider to be an exemption is what most people consider a redirection of payment. This so called exemption would not require the Catholic Church to directly pay for birth control, but require the insurance companies to provide it for free. Naturally the companies will raise their rates which will have the same effect! The church will still be paying for contraception, though indirectly, which clearly shows this as just another sly political move by Obama to divert the blame from him and avoid addressing the true problem. When Dr. Dalton was asked if she believed this was Obama’s goal in his religious exemption she stated:
I absolutely feel that this administration has attempted to mislead the public by claiming that it does have an adequate religious exemption for the full contraceptive mandate. It has redefined what constitutes a religious entity. To meet its definition, a group must employ and serve only members of its own religion. Catholic schools, Hospitals, and other social service entities, such as Catholic Charities, would not qualify. Never before had such narrow definitions been put into place. The uproar that created brought about an “accommodation” by the administration, who decreed that religious employers would not have to pay for those objectionable services; their insurance companies would have to provide them directly. How absurd! What insurance company would do that without charging overall higher premiums? This also still did not get around the fact that the religious was purchasing

Dalton 7 insurance that violated its moral code. This clearly was an election-year smoke screen and an insult to our intelligence. (Interview)
Obama obviously believes that the American people are made of clay and able to be molded however he deems fit. However this is not the case! On May 21st, 2012 dioceses and organizations nationwide filed religious liberty suits against the federal government to challenge the HHS Mandate (CNA.com). Cardinal Dolan called it a “compelling display of the unity of the Church in defense of religious liberty,” (CNA). One major surprise out of the organizations filing suit was the University of Notre Dame. Notre Dame had been highly criticized by conservatives for inviting President Obama to speak at their 2010 Graduation ceremony. The President of Notre Dame, Fr. John Jenkins, C.S.C., said the lawsuit was filed “with sober determination.” “We do not seek to impose our religious beliefs on others,” he said in an email to employees of the University, “we simply ask that the Government not impose its values on the University when those values conflict with our religious teachings;” (CNA). People and organizations are finally standing up against what they know is wrong, and taking action to fight anything or anyone that infringes on their rights, and the President of the United States and the Federal Government are no exception. In 1809, Thomas Jefferson, one of our founding fathers and the writer of the Constitution of the United States said, “No provision in our Constitution ought to be dearer to man than that which protects the rights of conscience against the enterprises of civil authority,” (StopHHS.com). This quote is extremely appropriate in the middle of one of the most paramount examples of abuse of civil authority in the history of the United States of America. President Barack Obama is breaking all kinds of creeds, beliefs, and constitutional boundaries to
Dalton 8 pass his unconstitutional Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The Catholic Church, along with many other groups and organizations, has had enough of the lies, deception, and discrimination. They have decided to act on what they know is right, to call out what they know is unconstitutional, and to fight against a power that seems to be unyielding in its attempts to drive them against their morals. The time has come for Obama’s “change” to come to an end, and what moment could be more opportune than when he has stopped obeying the Constitution? Stop to think: How might Obama’s policies have affected you already? How are they affecting you now? How might they affect you in the future? Are you going to stand up for what is right? Stop the HHS Mandate.

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Interview with Dr. Karen Dalton, M.D.
Q: How Does Obamacare, and in particular the HHS Mandate, violate Catholics’ right to freedom of speech?
A: The Obama administration 's infringement is twofold: 1) they have taken it upon themselves to determine the definition of what constitutes a religious entity and have decided that to qualify, the entity must employ AND minister only to members of its religion. Jesus and his apostles would not have met this definition, and certainly Catholic Hospitals and schools/universities do not. 2) entities that do not meet the administration 's narrow definition will be required by the mandate to provide with their health insurance FOR FREE -no co pay-sterilization, contraceptives and drugs such as 'the morning-after pill '. These are considered morally evil by the church. Several types of birth control options involve the destruction of fertilized embryos by making the lining of the mother 's uterus inhospitable to implantation. Since the Catholic Church holds that human life begins at the moment of conception, these methods constitute murder. The administration has therefore taken it upon itself to attempt to coerce the Church and any Catholic employer into purchasing insurance that violates deeply held religious convictions or face crippling financial penalties and/or arrest. The First Amendment is clear that the government cannot do this. That is why 43 Catholic entities filed suit yesterday to block the HHS mandate.
Q: Do you have any concerns about the HHS Mandate outside if the religious liberty issue?
A: I am particularly dismayed at the misrepresentation by the administration and the mainstream media of why the Church is taking the stance that she is on this crucial matter. It is being portrayed as the Church engaging in a “war on women” since the Church will not subsidize
Dalton 10 artificial birth control. Most artificial birth control is one of several forms of hormonal manipulation. These medications (artificial estrogens and progestins, two of the female reproductive hormones) have been classified for years by the World Health Organization as Class I carcinogens, meaning they have been documented to significantly increase cancer risk. (Asbestos is also a Class I carcinogen.) Yet our own Health and Human Services Director feels that these medications are “preventative” health care for women and girls and must be available for free to any who desire them. My grievance is this: the only thing that is potentially being prevented is pregnancy (and particularly in teenagers and those in their early 20’s who have more difficulty with taking a pill every day at the same time of day, it doesn’t do a very good job of it) and pregnancy is not a disease. This crucial “preventative service” very poorly prevents a non-disease, but does a bang up job at dramatically increasing the risk at getting very serious diseases later in life. It is clear from many studies that women who start taking the pill before they are eighteen and for more than 10 years have dramatically (over 200%) increased risk of breast cancer. The pill also raises the risk of getting liver cancer, cervical cancer, STD’s, depression, and high blood pressure. It is very clear to me that these medications are absolutely NOT good for women and any group that heavily promotes their use is the one actually waging the real war on women.
Q: Do you feel that the Obama administration has been deceptive or insincere with its “religious exemption clause”? A: I absolutely feel that this administration has attempted to mislead the public by claiming that it does have an adequate religious exemption for the full contraceptive mandate. It has redefined Dalton 11 what constitutes a religious entity. To meet its definition, a group must employ and serve only members of its own religion. Catholic schools, Hospitals, and other social service entities, such as Catholic Charities, would not qualify. Never before had such narrow definitions been put into place. The uproar that created brought about an “accommodation” by the administration, who decreed that religious employers would not have to pay for those objectionable services; their insurance companies would have to provide them directly. How absurd! What insurance company would do that without charging overall higher premiums? This also still did not get around the fact that the religious was purchasing insurance that violated its moral code. This clearly was an election-year smoke screen and an insult to our intelligence.

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Works Cited

"Epigee HOME." Epigee.org. Web. 29 May 2012. <http://www.epigee.org/guide/catholicism.html>.

"LifeSiteNews Mobile | Obama Health Care Rule Final: $1 Abortion Surcharge from Premium Payers." LifeSiteNews. Web. 29 May 2012. <http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/obama-health-care-rule-final-1-abortion-surcharge-from-every-premium-payer>.

"Share." Forty-three Catholic Organizations File Lawsuits against HHS Mandate. Web. 30 May 2012. <http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/forty-three-catholic-organizations-file-lawsuits-against-hhs-mandate/>.

Taranto, James. "When The Archbishop Met the President." Online.wsj.com. Wall Street Journal, 31 Mar. 2012. Web. 29 May 2012. <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303816504577311800821270184.html?>.

"Thesaurus.com | Find Synonyms and Antonyms of Words at Thesaurus.com." Thesaurus.com. Web. 30 May 2012. <http://thesaurus.com/>.

Thomm, Nick. "National Petition to Stop HHS Mandate." Stophhs.com. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Web. 29 May 2012. <https://www.stophhs.com/stop-hhs-faq/>.

"Welcome to the Purdue OWL." Purdue OWL: MLA Formatting and Style Guide. Web. 29 May 2012. <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/2/>.

Cited: "Epigee HOME." Epigee.org. Web. 29 May 2012. &lt;http://www.epigee.org/guide/catholicism.html&gt;. "LifeSiteNews Mobile | Obama Health Care Rule Final: $1 Abortion Surcharge from Premium Payers." LifeSiteNews. Web. 29 May 2012. &lt;http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/obama-health-care-rule-final-1-abortion-surcharge-from-every-premium-payer&gt;. "Share." Forty-three Catholic Organizations File Lawsuits against HHS Mandate. Web. 30 May 2012. &lt;http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/forty-three-catholic-organizations-file-lawsuits-against-hhs-mandate/&gt;. Taranto, James. "When The Archbishop Met the President." Online.wsj.com. Wall Street Journal, 31 Mar. 2012. Web. 29 May 2012. &lt;http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303816504577311800821270184.html?&gt;. "Thesaurus.com | Find Synonyms and Antonyms of Words at Thesaurus.com." Thesaurus.com. Web. 30 May 2012. &lt;http://thesaurus.com/&gt;. Thomm, Nick. "National Petition to Stop HHS Mandate." Stophhs.com. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Web. 29 May 2012. &lt;https://www.stophhs.com/stop-hhs-faq/&gt;. "Welcome to the Purdue OWL." Purdue OWL: MLA Formatting and Style Guide. Web. 29 May 2012. &lt;http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/2/&gt;.