Posted on 06/24/2016 8:48:53 PM PDT by Salvation
The leading pro-life spokesmen for the Catholic bishops are blasting an Obama administration decision revoking federal protection for chruches in California forced to pay for abortions.
As LifeNews reported, churches in California are officially subject to an onerous state regulation that requires them to pay for abortions, thanks to a ruling by the Obama administration.
The troubling situation began in 2014 when the California Department of Managed Health Care reclassified abortion as a “basic health service” under the Affordable Care Act and ordered all insurance plans in the state to begin covering surgical abortions immediately. Even churches are not exempt from funding abortions.
The churches filed a lawsuit against the regulation last October, and it has been moving through the courts.
They also asked the Obama administration to uphold the Weldon Amendment — federal law that protects conscience rights. But, this week, the HHS Office of Civil Rights released the results of its investigation into the California abortion mandate, stating it found no violation and is closing its investigation of the complaints without further action.
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The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is calling for an immediate federal legislative remedy and says the Obama administration got it wrong The bishops say the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) declared, contrary to the plain meaning of current federal law, that the California Department of Managed Health Care can continue to force all health plans under its jurisdiction to cover elective abortions.
It is shocking that HHS has allowed the State of California to force all employers – even churches – to fund and facilitate elective abortions in their health insurance plans. Even those who disagree on the issue of life should be able to respect the conscience rights of those who wish not to be involved in supporting abortion,” Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York and Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore said in a statement.
Cardinal Dolan is chairman of the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities and Archbishop Lori chairs the USCCB Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty.
“This administrative ruling fails to respect not only the rights to life and religious freedom, but also the will of Congress and the rule of law,” the chairmen added. “As a remedy to the Administration’s unwillingness to fulfill its responsibilities, we urge Congress to pass the Conscience Protection Act (H.R. 4828, S. 2927) and stop further discrimination against people of faith and against all who respect unborn human life.”
OCR’s decision is based on a flawed reading of the Weldon amendment. They argue that the Weldon amendment only protects health insurance plans, and not the purchasers of such plans, and state that the insurance companies have not complained. To say that a previously existing plan that excluded abortion must be discontinued is discriminatory against the life-affirming abortion-free plan. Whether the insurance company objects or not, the mandate is discriminatory.
Furthermore, OCR states that the insurance companies do not hold a religious or moral objection to covering abortion. The Weldon amendment is not limited to religious or moral objections. It is not even based on an objection being raised. It simply states no funds may be made available to a government that subjects a health care entity (health plan in this case) to discrimination on the basis that the entity “does not provide, pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for abortion.”
Pro-life leaders in Congress are furious with the Obama administration.
“Nearly two years after California imposed its draconian mandate that requires all insurance companies to pay for abortion the Obama Administration has reached a new low — reinterpreting the Weldon amendment to allow the mandate to continue,” said Rep. Chris Smith, Co-Chair of the Bipartisan Congressional Pro-Life Caucus in comments to LifeNews.com. “This means that Californians, including churches, will continue to be forced to pay for elective abortions in their insurance plans.”
Smith continued, “The Weldon amendment – named for the Florida Congressman Dave Weldon who authored it – has been renewed and signed into law annually, including by President Obama. The Weldon Amendment protects against state-imposed abortion mandates. But Obama’s Administration has again shown blatant disregard for the rule of law. This decision illustrates the far reaches of Obama’s radical pro-abortion ideology – forcing churches and communities of faith that have pro-life convictions to participate in and pay for a practice that dismembers and chemically poisons unborn children.
“Congress must not let this discrimination stand. We must take this issue out of the hands of the Obama Administration by moving enforcement of current conscience protections to the courts. Congress needs to enact legislation so churches and other victims have a “private right of action” so they can have their day in court.”
Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Casey Mattox also commented on the Obama administration’s decision in an email to LifeNews. he said:
“The Obama Administration is once again making a mockery of the law, and this time in the most unimaginable way. Churches should never be forced to cover elective abortion in their insurance plans, and for ten years the Weldon Amendment has protected the right to have plans that do not include coverage for abortion-on-demand. But the state of California has ordered every insurer, even those insuring churches, to cover elective abortions in blatant violation of the law. The Obama Administration’s refusal to enforce this law continues its pattern of enforcing laws it wants to enforce, refusing to enforce others, and inventing new interpretations of others out of whole cloth. We will continue to defend churches from this clear violation of the First Amendment and federal law and call on Congress to hold the Department of Health and Human Services accountable.”
Alliance Defending Freedom, which is representing three churches in the case Foothill Church v. Rouillard, will ask a federal court to allow the lawsuit against California to proceed.
The lawsuit is on behalf of Foothill Church in Glendora, Calvary Chapel Chino Hills in Chino, and The Shepherd of the Hills Church in Porter Ranch, according to ADF. In 2014, ADF and Life Legal Defense Foundation filed formal complaints with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services against DMHC regarding California’s mandate and its violation of federal conscience law. Those came on the heels of a complaint filed directly with DMHC, which responded by affirming its decision to force all plans to cover all abortions without any explanation as to how that decision squares with the Constitution and contrasting federal law.
Another case for the courts Ping!
This is what happens when you help fascists achieve power.
If there is any justice the lack of discipline for public Catholics that publically facilitate abortion will be recalled as a scandal that dwarfs the homosexualist priest scandal.
Freegards
The idiot bishops supported Obamacare up until minutes before the vote. They share in the guilt for all the persecution of the Church under Obamacare.
Look up the word abortion in a catechism search.
Public Catholics facilitating abortion in a public manner without public discipline is a scandal that dwarfs the homosexualist priest scandal.
Thank you for all the pings.
Freegards
You are absolutely right!! They had reservations when they suddenly realized there wasn’t going to be a sweeping exemption for Catholic institutions (which, I believe, was mainly a financial issue for them as Catholic institutions were often “self insured” and this could not continue under Obamacare).
They OWN Obamacare and have no right to complain.
Besides, the Catholic Church has been around 2000 years, dealing with people far smarter, richer and more powerful than Obama and friends, e.g. the Borgia family.
This won't fly as Obama, Shrillary, Hollyweird and the godless Democrats will find out.
Salvation did us the favor earlier of looking up something in the catechism and pasting it
I’ll do it here
ARTICLE 5
THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT
You shall not kill.54
You have heard that it was said to the men of old, “You shall not kill: and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.” But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment.55
2258 “Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains for ever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being.”56
Enough with the talk and the courts. Refuse to go along. Defy the regime. Force a showdown. Either we have a Constitution or we don’t. Either we have a government or we don’t. Either we are a nation or we don’t.
Bart Stupak, may you never have a night’s rest.
It really hurts when a comrade in arms stabs you in the back, doesn’t bishops?
==================================
ARTICLE 5
THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT
You shall not kill.
54 You have heard that it was said to the men of old, “You shall not kill: and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.” But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment.
2258 “Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains for ever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being.”
This commandment also means that WE can't "kill ourselves" with alcoholism, over-eating, sloth and so on. Aren't our bodies supposed to be "temples of the Holy Spirit"?
Yep. 5th commandment encompasses a lot. Gossip. Ruining someone’s reputation falls under 5th commandment for instance.
Fr. Larry Richards has a wonderful scary energetic examination of conscience talk on audio. Any good examination of conscience talk or pamphlet is recommended. They go through the commandments meditatively John Paul II has one that is of course very good
As I age it gets easier to avoid the stupidity of sin. I see NO advantage to gossip either.
That's part of the beauty of aging...wisdom DOES enter the brain and soul, whether I want it to or not. :o)
No one can be “forced” to perform or pay for abortions, least of all a Catholic bishop.
The transition to disentangle these funding relationships would be traumatic short-term, but it’s a blessing in disguise if the outcome is the USCCB (by edict or choice) discontinues its function as an unofficial extension of the leftist faction of the federal government.
Can you imagine Jesus saying someone forced Him to contribute to killing innocents? Anyone pretending times are so tough that they cannot do what Jesus teaches is not aware of what Christianity is. That’s all
So true, and I don’t think this comes under “render unto Caesar” either!
What if the USCCB simply said OK, we will close the hospitals, close the schools (the few that are left), shut down our soup kitchens, legal aid, CCHD, etc, and even temporarily lay off our chancery staff, parish staff, etc, because we are not buying health plans that destroy life.
This is like what happened with adoptions in Boston, the Church was “forced” by the govt to facilitate homo adoptions thru its highly-respected charity services, which the govt has used for many years because no one was as good at placement as the Catholic Church. Bishop said, sorry we can’t participate in homo adoptions, and they quit facilitating adoptions for families altogether. Thousands of children and babies were left in the lurch without hesitation when it contradicted Catholic faith.
The govt does not care about that, but they will care when social and economic structures that are huge are in danger if the Church does not participate. The Church is a major creator of jobs, and almost the sole facilitator of thousands of semi-socialist programs with the govt.
The Church has been doing charity work a few thousand years longer than the U.S. govt and it’s a mutual thing. If the bishops take a firm stand on principle, they may get a compromise on the law and still keep their integrity. But if they capitulate to “force” by the government - as you say, they are not even Christian. They will become despicable to all of us, Catholic or not.
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