The Obama administration has asked the public to weigh in on the five-year war it has waged against religious non-profit groups, including the Little Sisters of the Poor and Priests for Life, over the HHS mandate, and is giving citizens until September 20 to offer their solutions for how to accommodate the religious liberty of these organizations.
As Priests for Life explains on their website, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is asking for the public’s suggestions on how an accommodation may be reached between the government and religious non-profit organizations. At the direction of the Supreme Court, the government has been asked to provide an accommodation that will ensure that the “religious exercise” of faith based non-profits is protected while “women covered by [religious groups’] health plans ‘receive full and equal health coverage, including contraceptive coverage.’”
In other words, all the government has to do is come up with a plan that doesn’t require groups like Priests for Life to cooperate at all in evil, says Father Frank Pavone.
“Rather, we should be required to do nothing more than we already do, namely, to provide a health insurance plan to our employees that doesn’t include coverage for objectionable items such as contraceptives, abortifacients, and sterilization. We shouldn’t have to take any action that would trigger the provision of these drugs, devices, or procedures to our employees,” Father states.
This is the key message that the government must receive during this public comment period – that religious non-profit groups cannot be part of the chain of distribution for sinful items.
Previously, the HHS issued a regulation requiring group health insurance plans, including those of religious non-profit groups, to cover all federally approved contraceptives, including abortion-inducing drugs. This meant that groups such as Priests for Life, Little Sisters of the Poor, and Dioceses and Archdioceses across the country were being told they had to provide employees with abortion-inducing drugs and devices, contraceptive and sterilization – some of which result in ending a human life – through their health coverage.
This ruling resulted in over 50 lawsuits against the HHS mandate for violating the rights of these religious employers under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
“This year, our case and six others were heard by the Supreme Court, with the eight justices unanimously overturning all lower court decisions that had ruled in favor of the government. The Court sent the cases back to federal appeals courts for rehearing,” Fr. Pavone writes.
“Significantly, the Supreme Court further stated that since an agreement between the Obama administration and religious non-profit groups that didn’t violate our religious rights is ‘feasible,’ both sides should work out an accommodation that does not violate religious liberty.”
The government has responded, but not with its own proposal. Instead, they are requesting comment from the public on how this matter may be resolved.
All comments must be received before midnight on Tuesday, September 20.
Priests for Life has made it simple for people to submit comments, including providing the public with written comments which clearly state that religious non-profit groups cannot be part of the chain of distribution for sinful items.
For example, one statement reads: “If it wants, and as the Supreme Court has stated, the government can provide contraceptive coverage to employees of religious non-profit groups without involving those groups. For instance, insurance companies can be mandated to provide contraceptive-only plans and offer them to everyone without religious organizations taking any action whatsoever.”
Another sample comment states that “The HHS mandate is not universally applied. There are already many Americans who do not have coverage in their health insurance plans for contraceptives, abortifacients, or sterilization. People who work for churches and people who work for companies with ‘grandfathered’ health plans are totally exempt from the HHS mandate. Why do private corporations get a ‘pass’ on the HHS mandate, but non-profit religious groups are threatened with massive fines if they don’t comply? The mandate smacks of anti-religious sentiment.”
As Father Pavone writes, “It’s vitally important that HHS officials hear from Americans that the right to practice our faith cannot be trampled upon by an arbitrary, unnecessary regulation.”
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