Archbishop implores Congress to protect conscience rights

Last updated on: February 19, 2013 at 12:05 am by CNA Daily News

Archbishop implores Congress to protect conscience rights 2013-02-19T00:05:00+00:00 CNA Daily News

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Washington D.C., Feb 18, 2013 / 05:05 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In anticipation of upcoming legislation, Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore urged the nation’s lawmakers to work this year “to restore a tradition on rights of conscience in health care.”

“I fear that the federal government’s respect for believers and people of conscience no longer measures up to the treatment Americans have a right to expect from their elected representatives,” Archbishop Lori said in a Feb. 15 letter to Congress.

The archbishop, who heads the Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, voiced his support for several new legislative measures to protect religious freedom and warned of the negative consequences that would come from a failure to preserve rights of conscience.

He said that a current draft of an appropriations bill for the Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services contains “two important provisions supported by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.”

The first of these provisions would “extend the longstanding federal policy on conscience” to new programs and mandates created and covered by the Affordable Care Act.

This extension would ensure that “Americans are not forced to violate their fundamental moral and religious convictions in order to offer, sponsor and purchase health coverage,” he explained.

The second important part of the bill would clarify nondiscrimination clauses, giving insurers and employees “the freedom to choose a plan consistent with their religious beliefs,” the archbishop continued.

This clause would also protect health care professionals who refuse to prescribe or provide contraceptives due to their moral or religious beliefs.

Appropriations and funding bills have been used in the past to ensure conscience protections, Archbishop Lori observed, adding that such protections were instituted by President Bill Clinton and have enjoyed bipartisan support since then.

“It can hardly be said that all these Presidents and Congresses, of both parties, had been waging a war on women,” he noted.

The archbishop also criticized attempts to restrict conscience protections, saying that he has “seen no evidence” that laws protecting religious freedom “have done any harm to women or to their advancement in society.”

Instead, he told members of Congress, there is “a new, more grudging attitude in recent years toward citizens whose faith or moral principles are not in accord with the views of the current governing power.”

He noted that while the Obama administration’s decision to mandate insurance coverage of contraceptives, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs, “is hailed by some as a victory for women’s freedom, it permits no free choice” for women who object to this coverage for themselves and their minor children due to moral or religious beliefs.

Archbishop Lori echoed Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, who chairs the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in critiquing the “coercive element” present in the latest proposal by the administration to amend the mandate.

Explaining that “the new proposal falls short of meeting the hopes and expectations of many concerned about religious freedom,” Archbishop Lori pointed to the narrow exemption for religious employers, the imposition into the private affairs of non-exempt religious groups and the mandate’s disregard for the conscience rights of non-religious and for-profit employers.

Furthermore, the new approach “threatens to undermine access to quality health care” because it tells insurance providers and purchasers “that they need to drop their participation in the health care system if they want to preserve their religious and moral integrity,” he added.

Quoting Cardinal Dolan, he said that “the Nation’s bishops remain committed to ‘engaging with the Administration, and all branches and levels of government.’”

“A restoration of full respect for one of our Nation’s founding values is urgently needed,” he stressed.

Previous Post

February 18, 2013

Priest conceived in rape recounts journey to forgive father

Next Post

February 19, 2013 Knights of Columbus launch Twitter prayer campaign for Pope

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Americas Asia - Pacific Europe Middle East - Africa Uncategorized US Vatican

Select a Month November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said, "Silver and gold have I none, but what I have I give to you"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Peter John James Paul