Irrespective of religion, morality, ethics, etc. I don’t consider birth control as health care and I don’t want to pay for someone else’s birth control.

Where is the compromise?

Plan  A:  Organization pays for birh control

Plan  B:  Insurance company provides birth contol and organization pays insurance company

No change!

 

The following laypersons, among others, have signed a letter calling Obama's "compromise" on the HHS contraceptive/sterilization/abortifacient regulation "UNACCEPTABLE" and an "INSULT to the intelligence of Catholics, Protestants, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Jews, Muslims, and other people of faith and conscience to imagine that they will accept an assault on their religious liberty if only it is covered up by a cheap accounting trick." --

John Garvey
President, The Catholic University of America

Mary Ann Glendon
Learned Hand Professor of Law, Harvard University

Robert P. George
McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton University

O. Carter Snead
Professor of Law, University of Notre Dame

Yuval Levin
Hertog Fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Center

Jean Bethke Elshtain
Laura Spelman Rockefeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics in the Divinity School, Department of Political Science and the Committee on International Relations,
The University of Chicago

Michael W. McConnell
Richard and Frances Mallery Professor of Law & Director, Stanford Constitutional Law Center, Stanford University

Donald Landry, Samuel Bard Professor of Medicine & Chair, Department of Medicine & Physician-in-Chief, Columbia University

Thomas F. Farr
Director of the Religious Freedom Project, Georgetown University

Richard W. Garnett
Associate Dean and Professor of Law, University of Notre Dame

John B. Londregan
Professor of Politics and Public Affairs, Princeton University

Patrick MacKinley Brennan
John F. Scarpa Chair in Catholic Legal Studies and Professor of Law, Villanova University

Mark C. Murphy
McDevitt Professor of Religious Philosophy, Georgetown University

Patrick Griffin
Department Chair and Madden-Hennebry Professor of History, University of Notre Dame

Gary Anderson
Hesburgh Professor of Theology, University of Notre Dame

Christian Smith
William R. Kenan Professor of Sociology & Director, Center for the Study of Religion and Society, University of Notre Dame

Harindra Joseph F. Fernando
Wayne and Diana Murdy Endowed Professor of Engineering and Geosciences,
University of Notre Dame

William N. Evans
Keough-Hesburgh Professor of Economics, University of Notre Dame

Larry Alexander
Warren Distinguished Professor of Law, University of San Diego

W. Cole Durham, Jr.
Susa Young Gates University Professor of Law and
Director, International Center for Law and Religion Studies
J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University

Lynn D. Wardle
Bruce C. Hafen Professor of Law, Brigham Young University Law School

Prof. Alan Mittleman
Professor of Modern Jewish Thought
The Jewish Theological Seminary

Rabbi Meir Y. Soloveichik
Director, Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought, Yeshiva University

Gilbert Meilaender
Duesenberg Professor in Christian Ethics, Valparaiso University

Russell D. Moore, Ph.D.
Dean and Professor of Christian Theology and Ethics,
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Thomas Kelly
Associate Professor of Philosophy, Princeton University

Michael Stokes Paulsen
Distinguished University Chair & Professor of Law, The University of St. Thomas

David Lyle Jeffrey
Distinguished Professor of Literature and the Humanities, Baylor University

Edward R. Dougherty
Robert M. Kennedy '26 Chair
Director, Genomic Signal Processing Laboratory
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Texas A&M University
Director, Computational Biology Division
Translational Genomics Research Institute, Phoenix, AZ

Paolo Carozza
Professor of Law and Director, Center for Civil and Human Rights, University of Notre Dame

Philip Bess
Director of Graduate Studies and Professor of Architecture, University of Notre Dame

Timothy S. Fuerst
Professor of Economics, University of Notre Dame

Gerard V. Bradley
Professor of Law, University of Notre Dame

Amy Barrett
Professor of Law, University of Notre Dame

Sean Kelsey
Director of Graduate Studies and Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame

David O’Connor
Associate Professor of Philosophy and Concurrent Associate Professor of Classics,
University of Notre Dame

Joseph Kaboski
David F. and Erin M. Seng Associate Professor of Economics, University of Notre Dame

Patrick Deneen
Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis Associate Professor
Director, The Tocqueville Forum on the Roots of American Democracy
Department of Government, Georgetown University

Vincent Phillip Muñoz
Tocqueville Associate Professor of Political Science
Concurrent Associate Professor of Law
Department of Political Science, University of Notre Dame

John O’Callaghan
Director, Jacques Maritain Center & Associate Professor of Philosophy,
University of Notre Dame

Daniel Philpott
Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Notre Dame

Eric Sims
Associate Professor of Economics, University of Notre Dame

Mike Pries
Associate Professor of Economics, University of Notre Dame

John F. Gaski
Associate Professor of Marketing, University of Notre Dame

Duncan G. Stroik
Associate Professor of Architecture, University of Notre Dame

Rev. Wilson D. Miscamble, C.S.C.
Professor of History, University of Notre Dame

Bryan T. McGraw
Assistant Professor of Politics and International Relations, Wheaton College

Timothy Samuel Shah
Associate Director & Scholar in Residence, Religious Freedom Project,
Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, and
Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Government, Georgetown University

Jacqueline M. Nolan-Haley
Professor of Law and Director, ADR & Conflict Resolution Program, Fordham University

Rev. Thomas V. Berg
Professor of Moral Theology, St. Joseph’s Seminary-Dunwoodie

William S. Brewbaker III
Associate Dean and William Alfred Rose Professor of Law, University of Alabama

Micah J. Watson
Director, Center for Politics and Religion and Assistant Professor of Political Science,
Union University

Helen Alvaré
Associate Professor of Law, George Mason University

Michael Moreland,
Associate Professor of Law, Villanova University

V. Bradley Lewis
Associate Professor of Philosophy, The Catholic University of America

Mark Rienzi
Senior Counsel, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
Assistant Professor of Law, the Catholic University of America

Patrick Lee
Professor of Philosophy, Franciscan University of Steubenville

Francis J. Beckwith
Professor of Philosophy and Church-State Studies, Baylor University

William Imboden
Assistant Professor, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas

Christopher Tollefsen
Professor of Philosophy, University of South Carolina

Thomas A. Cavanaugh
Professor of Philosophy, University of San Francisco

C. Ben Mitchell, PhD
Graves Professor of Moral Philosophy, Union University

Gerald R. McDermott
Jordan-Trexler Professor of Religion, Roanoke College

Robert D. Benne
Director of the Center for Religion and Society, Roanoke College

Douglas Henry
Associate Professor of Philosophy, Baylor University

Richard Stith
Professor of Law, Valparaiso University

Thomas S. Kidd
Associate Professor of History and Senior Fellow, Institute of Religion, Baylor University

Joseph Knippenberg
Professor of Politics, Oglethorpe University

John D. Woodbridge
Research Professor of Church History and Christian Thought,
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Rev Prof D. A. Carson
Research Professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
President, The Gospel Coalition

University/College/Seminary Presidents, Deans, and Board Members

Stephen D. Minnis
President, Benedictine College

Robert Bryan Sloan Jr
President, Houston Baptist University

Sister Mary Sarah Galbraith, O.P.
President, Aquinas College (TN)

R. Albert Mohler, Jr.
President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Daniel Akin
President, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

Timothy O’Donnell
President, Christendom College

David Dockery
President, Union University

Dr. William K. Thierfelder
President, Belmont Abbey College

Carl E. Zylstra
President, Dordt College

Michael F. McLean
President, Thomas Aquinas College (CA)

Samuel W. "Dub" Oliver, Ph.D.
President, East Texas Baptist University

H. James Towey
President, Ave Maria University

Bernard F. O’Connor
President, DeSales Unviersity

Father Terence Henry, TOR
President, Franciscan University of Steubenville

William Edmund Fahey
President, The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts (NH)

Marianne Evans Mount
President, Catholic Distance University

Brian Kelly
Dean, Thomas Aquinas College (CA)

Thomas Hibbs
Honors College Dean and Distinguished Professor of Ethics and Culture, Baylor University

Donna Bethell
Chairman of the Board, Christendom College

Journalists

R.R. Reno
Editor, First Things

Ryan Anderson
Editor, Public Discourse

Kathryn Jean Lopez
Editor at Large, National Review Online

Ramesh Ponnuru
Senior Editor, National Review

Matt Schmitz
Deputy Editor, First Things

Justin Taylor
Blogger, "Between Two Worlds," The Gospel Coalition

Public Intellectuals and Activists

Nancy Matthews
Former Chancellor of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport

George Weigel
Distinguished Senior Fellow and William E. Simon Chair in Catholic Studies,
Ethics and Public Policy Center

Chuck Colson
Founder, Prison Fellowship Ministries

Edward Whelan
President, Ethics and Public Policy Center

Michael Novak
George Frederick Jewett Scholar Emeritus in Religion, Philosophy and Public Policy,
American Enterprise Institute
Board member, Ave Maria University

Michael Cromartie
Evangelicals and Civic Life Program
Ethics and Public Policy Center

Brian W. Walsh,
Executive Director, American Religious Freedom Program
Ethics and Public Policy Center

Patrick Fagan
Senior Fellow and Director, Marriage & Religion Research Institute

Austin Ruse
President, C-FAM

Father Jonathan Morris
Author, Televison Analyst
Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, NYC

Maggie Gallagher
Institute for Marriage and Public Policy

Robert C. Odle, Jr.
Partner, Weil Gotshal and Manges

William Saunders
Senior Vice President and Senior Counsel
Americans United for Life

Charmaine Yoest
President, Americans United for Life

Nikolas T. Nikas
President and General Counsel
Bioethics Defense Fund

Dorinda C. Bordlee
VP, Chief Counsel
Bioethics Defense Fund

Elizabeth Kirk
University of Notre Dame Fund to Protect Human Life

Matthew J. Franck
Director, William E. and Carol G. Simon Center on Religion and the Constitution,
The Witherspoon Institute

Kristina Arriaga
Executive Director, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty

 

 

THE BISHOPS ARE TRYING TO DENIE US OF ONE OF  THE GREATEST GIFTS  GOD GAVE US WHEN HE CREATED MAN, OUR FREE WILL WHICH GIVES US THE ABILITY TO CHOOSE RIGHT FROM WRONG.   THEY ARE TRYING TO BAN CONTROCEPTION, ENFORCING A TREACHING OF THE CHURCH THAT IS BY NO MEANS CONSIDERED AN "ARTICLE OF FAITH." IT HAS NOT BEEN DECLAIRED “WITHOUT FLAW” FROM THE CHAIR OF PETER.  I REPEAT:  IT IS NOT AN ARTICLE OF FAITH WHICH MUST BE BELIEVED OR FACE EXCOMUNICATION.

THE BIRTH CONTROL ISSUE WAS SCHEDULED TO BE DISCUSSED DURING THE THIRD SESSION OF THE VATICAN II COUNCIL, BUT POPE PAUL VI WAS AFRAID OF THE OUTCOME.  BIRTH CONTROL WAS A HOT ISSUE EVEN IN THOSE DAYS.   STATISTICS HAD RECENTLY REVEALED THAT OVER 85% OF CATHOLIC WOMEN IN AMERICA HAD USED CONDROCEPTIVES AND ONE TIME OR ANOTHER.  IT WAS BELIEVED THAT THE SAME RATE WAS JUST AS HIGH FOR ALL INDUSTRALIZED COUNTRIES.

POPE PAUL VI REMOVED THE SUBJECT FROM THE AGENDA AND SET UP A COMMISION COMPOSED OF BISHOPS, THEOLOGIANS, SCIENTEST, AND LAY COUPLES TO STUDY THE ISSUE.  A YEAR LATER IN 1967 THE FINAL REPORT WAS FINISHED.  THE COMMISSION CONCLUDED THAT THE CHURCH COULD CHANGE ITS TEACHING ON BIRTH CONTROL WHILE MAINTAINING THE NECESSITY OF MARITAL LOVE AND RESPONSIBLE PARANTHOOD. ONLY 4 OF THE COMMISSION'S 55 MEMEBERS HAD REJECTED THE REPORT.

POPE PAUL VI TOOK THEIR REPORT AND BURIED IT, REFUSING TO MAKE IT PUBLIC.  A YEAR LATER, HE ISSUED HIS ILL-FATED ENCYCLIAL, "HUMANAE VITAE" REJECTING ALL FORMS OF BIRTH CONTROL.  IT WAS SOUNDLY REJECTED BY OVER 90% OF THE THEOLOGIANS ALL OVER THE WORLD. PAUL WAS SO SHOCKECD BY THE RESPONSE THAT HE NEVER WROTE ANOTHER ENCYCLICAL.

THIS, IN TANDEM WITH THE CONCEPT THAT LIFE BEGINS THE INSTANT THE SPERM FERTALIZES THE EGG, ARE ISSUES THAT ARE STILL VERY MUCH UP IN THE AIR.   THIS "LIFE AT CONCEPTION" IS GREATLY DISPUTED BY MODERN SCIENCE.  IT IS A CONCEPT THAT HAS RISEN IN ONLY THE PAST 200 YEARS. THEREE IS NO VALID THEOLOGICAL OR SCIENTIFIC PROOF TO HOLD THIS "HUMAN LIFE AT CONCEPTION" BELIEF.

RECENT STATICS CDOMPILED BY "REUTERS" CONFIRM THAT 98% OF SEXUALLY ACTIVE CATHOLIC WOMEN HAVE USED CONTROCEPTIVE METHODS BANNED BY THE CHURCH. THIS RESEARCH WAS PUBLISHED ONLY LAST WEDNESDAY.

THE CONSERVATIVE BISHOPS ARE USING THIS TO NAIL OBAMA IN THIS ELECTION YEAR. ARCHBISHOP DOLON IN NEW YORK HAS ANNOUNCED HE IS NOT HAPPY WITH THE RRESIDENT'S COMPROMISE. HE WANTS MORE.

CARDINAL GEORGE IN CHICAGO HAS ANNOUNCED HE HAS WRITTEN A LETTER TO BE READ IN ALL PARISHES THIS SUNDAY. IN LIGHT OF THE PRESIDENT'S COMPROMISE, HE STILL WANTS HIS LETTER READ EVEN AFTER THE PRESIDENT AGREED TO COMPROMISE. BEING A MEMBER OF GEORGE'S ARCHDIOCESE, I HAVE NO DOUBE HE PLANS TO TEAR A PIECE OF HIDE FROM THE PRESIDENT'S BACKSIDE. 

At first glance the compromise does seem to address the most objectionable provision of the regulation, that is, the distinction between different kinds of Catholic institutions. If a simple regulation can declare that an organization is not religious, what happens to the First Amendment? Unfortunately, that question has been obscured by the more sensational issues.

THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release  February 10, 2012

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room  12:15 P.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, everybody.  (Laughter.)  I was actually going to say good morning.  But I guess it's afternoon by now.

As part of the health care reform law that I signed last year, all insurance plans are required to cover preventive care at no cost.  That means free check-ups, free mammograms, immunizations and other basic services.  We fought for this because it saves lives and it saves money –- for families, for businesses, for government, for everybody.  That’s because it’s a lot cheaper to prevent an illness than to treat one.

We also accepted a recommendation from the experts at the Institute of Medicine that when it comes to women, preventive care should include coverage of contraceptive services such as birth control.  In addition to family planning, doctors often prescribe contraception as a way to reduce the risks of ovarian and other cancers, and treat a variety of different ailments.  And we know that the overall cost of health care is lower when women have access to contraceptive services.    

Nearly 99 percent of all women have relied on contraception at some point in their lives –- 99 percent.  And yet, more than half of all women between the ages of 18 and 34 have struggled to afford it.  So for all these reasons, we decided to follow the judgment of the nation’s leading medical experts and make sure that free preventive care includes access to free contraceptive care.

Whether you’re a teacher, or a small businesswoman, or a nurse, or a janitor, no woman’s health should depend on who she is or where she works or how much money she makes.  Every woman should be in control of the decisions that affect her own health. Period.  This basic principle is already the law in 28 states across the country.

Now, as we move to implement this rule, however, we’ve been mindful that there’s another principle at stake here –- and that’s the principle of religious liberty, an inalienable right that is enshrined in our Constitution.  As a citizen and as a Christian, I cherish this right.

In fact, my first job in Chicago was working with Catholic parishes in poor neighborhoods, and my salary was funded by a grant from an arm of the Catholic Church.  And I saw that local churches often did more good for a community than a government program ever could, so I know how important the work that faith-based organizations do and how much impact they can have in their communities.

I also know that some religious institutions -– particularly those affiliated with the Catholic Church -– have a religious objection to directly providing insurance that covers contraceptive services for their employees.  And that’s why we originally exempted all churches from this requirement -– an exemption, by the way, that eight states didn’t already have.

And that’s why, from the very beginning of this process, I spoke directly to various Catholic officials, and I promised that before finalizing the rule as it applied to them, we would spend the next year working with institutions like Catholic hospitals and Catholic universities to find an equitable solution that protects religious liberty and ensures that every woman has access to the care that she needs.    

Now, after the many genuine concerns that have been raised over the last few weeks, as well as, frankly, the more cynical desire on the part of some to make this into a political football, it became clear that spending months hammering out a solution was not going to be an option, that we needed to move this faster.  So last week, I directed the Department of Health and Human Services to speed up the process that had already been envisioned.  We weren’t going to spend a year doing this; we're going to spend a week or two doing this.

Today, we've reached a decision on how to move forward.  Under the rule, women will still have access to free preventive care that includes contraceptive services -– no matter where they work.  So that core principle remains.  But if a woman’s employer is a charity or a hospital that has a religious objection to providing contraceptive services as part of their health plan, the insurance company -– not the hospital, not the charity -– will be required to reach out and offer the woman contraceptive care free of charge, without co-pays and without hassles.

The result will be that religious organizations won’t have to pay for these services, and no religious institution will have to provide these services directly.  Let me repeat:  These employers will not have to pay for, or provide, contraceptive services.  But women who work at these institutions will have access to free contraceptive services, just like other women, and they'll no longer have to pay hundreds of dollars a year that could go towards paying the rent or buying groceries.

Now, I've been confident from the start that we could work out a sensible approach here, just as I promised.  I understand some folks in Washington may want to treat this as another political wedge issue, but it shouldn’t be.  I certainly never saw it that way.  This is an issue where people of goodwill on both sides of the debate have been sorting through some very complicated questions to find a solution that works for everyone. With today’s announcement, we've done that.  Religious liberty will be protected, and a law that requires free preventive care will not discriminate against women.  

We live in a pluralistic society where we're not going to agree on every single issue, or share every belief.  That doesn’t mean that we have to choose between individual liberty and basic fairness for all Americans.  We are unique among nations for having been founded upon both these principles, and our obligation as citizens is to carry them forward.  I have complete faith that we can do that.

Thank you very much, everybody.

END                                                     12:30 P.M. EST

If the argument is that it violates our Catholic consciences to provide contraception coverage, would that also mean that it violates our Catholic consciences to provide spousal benefits to those with legally recognized marriages that don't meet the standards of the Catholic Church?