"On January 20, 2012 the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), unveiled a new policy which has come to be known at the “HHS Mandate.” The new Mandate would require nearly all private health insurance plans to include coverage for all FDA-approved prescription contraceptive drugs and devices, surgical sterilizations and abortion-inducing drugs—drugs that interfere with implantation in the womb and therefore destroy the life of a human being in the earliest stage of development." - Excerpt from www.standupforreligiousfreedom.com Religious employers are exempt from the mandate if they employ and serve ONLY people of their own faith. The exemption is so narrow that it excludes thousands of religious institutions.
Yes, I'm Catholic, and it's no secret that the Catholic Church teaches that contraception is against our religious beliefs. Therefore, this mandate goes against our Constitutional Rights to Freedom of Religion. If you're a person of Faith, even if you don't agree with our beliefs about contraception, you still need to stand up against this mandate.... it's NOT just a "Catholic" thing. All people of faith should be worried about this because of the PRINCIPLE. If this is allowed, what will be next?! What if the issue was something you DID believe in? What if our government said you can only go to church on the second Tuesday of every month? Wouldn't that go against many faiths that believe one day a week is the Sabbath and should be kept Holy, which includes going to worship services? There's no difference in principle.
In the Jewish and Muslim faiths, they view eating pork products as wrong according to their religious beliefs. What if our government somehow dictated that all restaurants in our country MUST provide pork products and that includes restaurants owned by Jewish and Muslim people of faith? Yes, the Jewish and Muslims can choose not to eat the pork products themselves, but making them provide it when it's against their religious beliefs is wrong and violates their religious liberties. Ok, this isn't an apple-to-apple comparison either, but again it's the same principle.
Even if you're not a person of faith, you can't deny that this mandate is unconstitutional. If you're one who believes in freedom for ALL Americans, doesn't that include race, gender, sexual orientation, economic status, AND religion? Friends, PLEASE, whether you're a person of faith or not, please stand up for every American's First Amendment rights. On Monday, March 26, 2012, Congress will decide if this HHS Mandate is constitutional or not. It's not too late to let our government hear our concerns. Here are a few ways you can do just that:
No comments:
Post a Comment