Catholic Bishops Furious Over Birth Control Requirement

[Austin]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religio ... hcare.html

Hospitals and universities/colleges affiliated with the Catholic church will be required to provide birth control to their employees as part of their health insurance. The bishops are acting like the government is going to be force-feeding birth control pills to women.

I know a lot of people that work at a local Catholic hospital who are not Catholics, so this makes perfect sense to me. No one will be forced to use birth control, but people who are not Catholic working for a Catholic-affiliated employer will now have the same rights as any other employee.

I don't really think there's a cogent argument for the other side. At least, I haven't heard one besides, "eleventy!1!!1!!"

[Kelya]

"We Catholics will be compelled to either violate our consciences, or to drop health coverage for our employees and suffer the penalties for doing so,""

you asshole, dropping health insurance for your employees should violate your conscience. fucked up priorities for the win.

[emmiedahl]

Just what we need--a bunch of celibate old men dictating our sex lives.

[Hane]

Awwww, de poor widdle deep-de-dees* (says this always BC-using former Catholic).

*ETA that I mean the bishops.

[MonkeyMomma]

you asshole, dropping health insurance for your employees should violate your conscience. fucked up priorities for the win.

Exactly.

No one is being *forced* to use birth control. Many states already mandate contraceptive coverage, and guess what? Much like with gay marriage, the sky has not fallen.

[starfish]

I'm sure they are running low on funds since they've had to start paying off victims of their pedophile priests, not to mention the exhorbiant costs of hiding the pedolphile priests out in Rome and South America to escape the American judicial system.

[Nothing2CHere]

Just what we need--a bunch of celibate old men dictating our sex lives.

I had this exact same thought when I read the letter that was passed out at Catholic churches two weeks ago.

If anyone would like, I can find it when I go home later and post it here for FJ's perusal (I think it's still in our recycling bin).

[mockingbird]

I has a letter. I go to a Jesuit uiversity and normally we are pretty cool with stuff like this (like, our gay-straight club is the largest organization on campus) but I got it last night in an email from the Catholic student society urging me "to PRAY and to ACT" on this manner. ("Let's stand... for the Truth.") I was going to post it but was too annoyed.

AFAIK, you don't have to be Catholic to work here, I know plenty of professors are not. So I don't see the problem. If a doctor wants to police my use of contraception/etc. because of either of our religions s/he can go shove it right back to the seminary and get into a job where pastoral counseling is allowed/expected.

Anyway, it's snark-worthy:

January 31, 2012

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

I write to you concerning an alarming and serious matter that negatively impacts the

Church in the United States directly, and that strikes at the fundamental right to religious liberty

for all citizens of any faith. The federal government, which claims to be “of, by, and for the

people,†has just dealt a heavy blow to almost a quarter of those people—the Catholic

population—and to the millions more who are served by the Catholic faithful.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that

almost all employers, including Catholic employers, will be forced to offer their employees’

health coverage that includes sterilization, abortion-inducing drugs, and contraception. Almost

all health insurers will be forced to include those “services†in the health policies they write.

And almost all individuals will be forced to buy that coverage as a part of their policies.

In so ruling, the Administration has cast aside the First Amendment to the Constitution of

the United States, denying to Catholics our Nation’s first and most fundamental freedom, that of

religious liberty. And as a result, unless the rule is overturned, we Catholics will be compelled

either to violate our consciences, or to drop health coverage for our employees (and suffer the

penalties for doing so). The Administration’s sole concession was to give our institutions one

year to comply.

We cannot—we will not—comply with this unjust law. People of faith cannot be made

second class citizens. We are already joined by our brothers and sisters of all faiths and many

others of good will in this important effort to regain our religious freedom. Our parents and

grandparents did not come to these shores to help build America’s cities and towns, its

infrastructure and institutions, its enterprise and culture, only to have their posterity stripped of

their God given rights. In generations past, the Church has always been able to count on the

faithful to stand up and protect her sacred rights and duties. I hope and trust she can count on

this generation of Catholics to do the same. Our children and grandchildren deserve nothing

less.

And therefore, I would ask of you two things. First, as a community of faith we must

commit ourselves to prayer and fasting that wisdom and justice may prevail, and religious liberty

may be restored. Without God, we can do nothing; with God, nothing is impossible. Second, I

would also recommend visiting http://www.usccb.org/conscience, to learn more about this severe

assault on religious liberty, and how to contact Congress in support of legislation that would

reverse the Administration’s decision.

With best wishes and prayers, I am

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Reverend George J. Lucas

Archbishop of Omaha

[Austin]

People of faith cannot be made second class citizens.

But people that do not share the Catholic faith (or practice it) can be made second class citizens if they just happen to work for a Catholic-affiliated employer?

I don't get how these people think. No one is going to be force-feeding women BC pills. . .

[slickcat79]

We cannot—we will not—comply with this unjust law. People of faith cannot be made

second class citizens. We are already joined by our brothers and sisters of all faiths and many

others of good will in this important effort to regain our religious freedom. Our parents and

grandparents did not come to these shores to help build America’s cities and towns, its

infrastructure and institutions, its enterprise and culture, only to have their posterity stripped of

their God given rights. In generations past, the Church has always been able to count on the

faithful to stand up and protect her sacred rights and duties. I hope and trust she can count on

this generation of Catholics to do the same. Our children and grandchildren deserve nothing

less.

You just got done mentioning the constitution, and the people who built this great nation, but now you have God given rights? No one in this country is subjected to the "rights" of someone else's god. That's why the constitution was written in the manner it was written to begin with. No one can make these women take birth control if they don't want it and don't believe in it.

[kb2]

I don't understand why, WHY, for the love of everything that is good and sacred in this world, we have to have a shitfest over the least wanted pregnancies being prevented. People who get pregnant because they wouldn't be able to afford their birth control without their insurance paying for it? Not where I'd start a birth-forcing campaign, but maybe that's just me.

ETA: I'm sorry for the anger, but if anyone read my post about knowing some serious NFP die-hards, you'd guess that I'd lived through multiple of these conversations IRL, and I'm about to poke my eyes out with something dull next time.

[3 is enough]

What a bunch of hypocrites. The majority of Catholics choose to ignore the Church's stand on birth control anyhow, and they know it.

Too bad they weren't so outraged about the pedophilia scandal.

[doggie]

Just what we need--a bunch of celibate old men dictating our sex lives.

CELIBATE? where do you get that? well they claim so but realty does not bare it out

[ADoyle90815]

What a bunch of hypocrites. The majority of Catholics choose to ignore the Church's stand on birth control anyhow, and they know it.

Too bad they weren't so outraged about the pedophilia scandal.

Exactly, if anything they realize that there are fewer potential victims, I mean children being born in Catholic families. After all, they probably know that most Catholics use birth control anyway.

[casterly]

Just what we need--a bunch of celibate old men dictating our sex lives.

MTE.

I was so furious after I read that letter. My mom works for a Diocese, and if this goes through, we'll all have to go on my dad's health plan because OH NO BIRTH CONTROL. That egg that gets flushed out during your period also could've been a life, do you want to take away my coverage for that too? I know tons of people who still call themselves Catholic and use birth control. No one seems to give a shit except these sexually frustrated priests. But now because they are the ones who seem to get their panties in a knot over this, thousands of other people have to pay for it.

"People of faith cannot be made second class citizens."

"I mean, we've already done that to women for centuries, but this is going too far." :roll:

[GeoBQn]

Someone left this post on the 19K&C fan page:

Cindy Carcamo

Message for the Duggars: In late January, the government issued a contraceptive mandate through the HHS which forces all employers, including religous, to purchase services that provice contraceptives, sterilizations and abortifacient drugs for their employees. There is a "religious clause" but it is so narrow Jesus and his apostles themselves would not qualify because they preached to people of other faiths, not just their own. Only an entity that serves people of it's own "religion" qualify. This directly violates our freedom of religion provided for in our constitution. For the first time, our administration is now forcing religious entities to purchase services directly against their faith. The Catholic Church is one of the largest church's being hit because the Church serves all people, not just Catholics. The Church is firmly opposed to all forms of artificial contraceptives, sterlizations and obviously any drugs that contain abortifacients and therefore this mandate would force us to violate our moral conscious or not serve at all. This also affects other religious entities who are opposed to these services as well. There is a petition on the government website called "We the People". We would appreciate it if you have not already done so, if you and your children over 18 could sign this petition. It is located at: [snip]. Thank you for your support in protecting our constitutional right to religious freedom.

(Parts bolded for whatthefuckery)

[Deleted06]

I has a letter. I go to a Jesuit uiversity and normally we are pretty cool with stuff like this (like, our gay-straight club is the largest organization on campus) but I got it last night in an email from the Catholic student society urging me "to PRAY and to ACT" on this manner. ("Let's stand... for the Truth.") I was going to post it but was too annoyed.

AFAIK, you don't have to be Catholic to work here, I know plenty of professors are not. So I don't see the problem. If a doctor wants to police my use of contraception/etc. because of either of our religions s/he can go shove it right back to the seminary and get into a job where pastoral counseling is allowed/expected.

Anyway, it's snark-worthy:

January 31, 2012

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

I write to you concerning an alarming and serious matter that negatively impacts the

Church in the United States directly, and that strikes at the fundamental right to religious liberty

for all citizens of any faith. The federal government, which claims to be “of, by, and for the

people,†has just dealt a heavy blow to almost a quarter of those people—the Catholic

population—and to the millions more who are served by the Catholic faithful.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that

almost all employers, including Catholic employers, will be forced to offer their employees’

health coverage that includes sterilization, abortion-inducing drugs, and contraception. Almost

all health insurers will be forced to include those “services†in the health policies they write.

And almost all individuals will be forced to buy that coverage as a part of their policies.

In so ruling, the Administration has cast aside the First Amendment to the Constitution of

the United States, denying to Catholics our Nation’s first and most fundamental freedom, that of

religious liberty. And as a result, unless the rule is overturned, we Catholics will be compelled

either to violate our consciences, or to drop health coverage for our employees (and suffer the

penalties for doing so). The Administration’s sole concession was to give our institutions one

year to comply.

We cannot—we will not—comply with this unjust law. People of faith cannot be made

second class citizens. We are already joined by our brothers and sisters of all faiths and many

others of good will in this important effort to regain our religious freedom. Our parents and

grandparents did not come to these shores to help build America’s cities and towns, its

infrastructure and institutions, its enterprise and culture, only to have their posterity stripped of

their God given rights. In generations past, the Church has always been able to count on the

faithful to stand up and protect her sacred rights and duties. I hope and trust she can count on

this generation of Catholics to do the same. Our children and grandchildren deserve nothing

less.

And therefore, I would ask of you two things. First, as a community of faith we must

commit ourselves to prayer and fasting that wisdom and justice may prevail, and religious liberty

may be restored. Without God, we can do nothing; with God, nothing is impossible. Second, I

would also recommend visiting http://www.usccb.org/conscience, to learn more about this severe

assault on religious liberty, and how to contact Congress in support of legislation that would

reverse the Administration’s decision.

With best wishes and prayers, I am

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Reverend George J. Lucas

Archbishop of Omaha

I think all the parishes in Omaha had to listen to this letter at mass last weekend. I thought it was a load of crap.

[Katiebug]

The most coherent summary of the USCCB argument against this requirement is that it forces Catholic institutions to violate their conscience by paying for private insurance that will allow employees to get contraceptives on the prescription drug formulary. That's just utter bullshit. No one is forcing employees of Catholic institutions to use said birth control. If a Catholic - or anyone else - doesn't want the Pill it's a simple matter to just not have one's doctor prescribe it.

I'd venture that the majority of rank-and-file employees of Catholic hospitals and universities are not themselves Catholic, and statistically somewhere upwards of 95% of Catholic women in the US have used artificial contraceptives. There's a huge disconnect between what the celibate clergy says, and with how the typical American Catholic views the issue. Just because Catholics aren't supposed to use birth control it doesn't mean that the rest of us should have to follow that rule.

It'd make life much easier and more fair if we didn't have medical insurance coverage subject to the whims of our employers (or lack thereof), but I digress....

[MadameX]

What makes me laugh about this is that I'm pretty sure there are plenty of medications, non-whore pills, mind you, that cause severe fetal abnormalities, distress, even potentially abortion. I mean, am I wrong about this? They seem to cover those medications just fine...

[ilovetchotchkes]

I'm sure they are running low on funds since they've had to start paying off victims of their pedophile priests, not to mention the exhorbiant costs of hiding the pedolphile priests out in Rome and South America to escape the American judicial system.

Maybe? oh my dear oh my dear they ARE.

My mother works for the Catholic schools. Her insurance premiums TRIPLED because once upon a time, they held a fund that they used to pay employees premiums so they could be affordable, to make up for the fact that most of the salaries were shitty. Instead of being responsible, they emptied that fund to pay for the lawsuits. Despicable.

[emmiedahl]

I don't think it actually will cost them more. When I worked for a Catholic charity, our insurance specifically disallowed birth control pills. But it was a Blue Cross policy, completely normal except for that one detail. And most of the employees were Catholic or Jewish women, so there were tons of births that have to cost more than a packet of pills.

Everyone got their pills from Planned Parenthood. Ah, the evil PP.

[ilovetchotchkes]

I don't think it actually will cost them more. When I worked for a Catholic charity, our insurance specifically disallowed birth control pills. But it was a Blue Cross policy, completely normal except for that one detail. And most of the employees were Catholic or Jewish women, so there were tons of births that have to cost more than a packet of pills.

Everyone got their pills from Planned Parenthood. Ah, the evil PP.

Which is like, super ironic, considering they consider PP to be like the bastion of all that is evil in this world. "We wont' let you have them so you have to get them from the place we refer to as an "abortion mill".

Seriously, the last 2 weeks have caused my mild distain for the RCC turn into out and out complete disgust and hatred. (Mind, not the FAITH but the institution. I know a LOT of Catholics that are awesome people, but I have nothing but distain for the church itself who has nothing to do with the faith, but everything to do with control. )

[Guest Anonymous]

new here - 1st post! - but i work for a catholic based hospital and this is the email that was sent out yesterday:

Our benefits coverage is administered in keeping with the beliefs of our Roman Catholic faith and Church teaching. Recently the new U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ruled that most health insurance plans will be required to cover recommended artificial contraceptive services. I want you to hear directly from me on this very important issue. Though this new federal rule applies to our organization, there are no changes to our current health plan. Our deadline to comply is not until August 1, 2013.

We are disappointed to receive the federal mandate and find it troublesome. We have a strong commitment to our beliefs and our right to conscience protection allows us to operate our organization under the long-protected freedom of religion and which is now undermined by this new requirement. We do not provide coverage such as birth control medication or devices and sterilization procedures because artificial contraceptive intervention is contrary to Church teaching. The Sisters and Health System leadership will review the federal mandate and seek guidance from our local Bishops on future actions. This HHS ruling may very well change in the coming months; however at this time it presents an opportunity for additional dialogue on the local and national level. We will keep you informed. Service and care for our communities and our team members will continue to be priorities of our Ministry as we remain faithful to our Roman Catholic faith and heritage.

there is some sort of loophole that will allow existing insurance plans to be grandfathered in - meaning that if the higher-ups decide to keep the same exact plan, they will not have to comply. but if they ever decide to change plans, they will have to.

personally, i feel that if they don't cover birth control, there should be no increase in premiums to add dependents to the plan.

and i read this on another board - if it's God's will to give me more children, surely He can work his magic around a pill. He got a virgin pregnant, right? =)