Dear Friends,
Last Friday President
Obama attempted to
respond to the strong
objections that have
been raised by the
Catholic Church and
other faith communities
to the Department of
Health and Human
Services’ unprecedented
mandate that would force
religious institutions,
in violation of their
religious beliefs, to
provide and pay for
abortion-inducing drugs,
contraceptives and
sterilization.
Unfortunately, the
“accommodation” that the
President announced
still presents grave
moral concerns and
continues to violate our
constitutionally
protected
religious liberty.
The administration’s
proposal continues to
involve needless
government intrusion in
the internal governance
of religious
institutions,
particularly in the
definition of who is and
who is not a religious
employer. Despite last
month’s
unanimous Supreme Court
decision
upholding the right of
religious institutions
to choose whom they
appoint to teach their
faith and carry out
their
mission,
the administration
remains unwavering in
its attempt to assert
control in matters of
religion. Our Catholic
schools, social service
organizations, hospitals
and universities are no
less Catholic than our
churches, but
apparently, these
institutions are not
considered to be
Catholic enough to meet
the definition required
by the HHS mandate for a
religious exemption.
As for the
insurance-related
provisions themselves,
the federal mandate
remains essentially
unchanged. The only
“fix” offered by the
President was to propose
that insurance
companies, instead of
religious institutions
directly, be required to
cover procedures and
products they find
objectionable at no cost
in their insurance
policies. Regardless of
how it is characterized,
shifting the cost of
these drugs and
procedures to insurance
companies does
not
make their requirement
any less objectionable
or lessen the
infringement on our
religious liberty and
rights of conscience.
For example, President
Obama’s announcement
does not provide any
accommodation for the
Archdiocese of
Washington. Like many
large organizations,
both for-profit and
non-profit, this
archdiocese does not
purchase group health
insurance from insurance
companies. In order to
provide insurance
consistent with our
religious beliefs, our
health benefit plan is a
self-insured plan that
extends coverage to
3,600 employees. This
means that the
archdiocese is the
insurer and the
archdiocese covers all
claim costs. There is no
insurance company
involved. Under the
Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act and
the HHS mandate,
self-insured
organizations like ours
are treated the same as
regular insurance
providers. This means
that like Aetna or Blue
Cross, the archdiocese
and other self-insured
religious organizations
would be required to
both provide and pay for
drugs and procedures we
consider morally wrong
in our employee health
plans.
Even for religious
institutions who are
employers and who
purchase group health
insurance from insurance
companies, the problem
created by the mandate
remains unresolved.
Those institutions will
still be compelled to
purchase insurance
policies that provide
free abortion-inducing
drugs, contraceptives
and sterilization. Since
these additional drugs
and procedures will be
automatically provided
by the insurer by virtue
of the insurance policy
(even though not
expressly listed in the
policy), it is no
response to our moral
concerns to say that
religious employers will
not have to pay for them
because their insurance
companies will. Catholic
institutions will be
forced to pay for and
maintain policies that
enable their employees
to receive insurance
coverage of products and
procedures that violate
our religious
convictions.
At this point, it
appears that nothing has
really changed.
Religious employers are
still being compelled to
provide insurance plans
that offer free
abortion-inducing drugs,
sterilizations and
contraceptives in
violation of their
religious freedom.
What is at stake here is
a question of human
freedom. The authors of
the Bill of Rights
enshrined freedom of
religion as our nation’s
first and founding
principle. We should not
be reduced to
petitioning the
government for rights
that the Constitution
already guarantees. The
only complete solution
to the problem that this
mandate poses for
religious liberty is for
Congress to pass
legislation to protect
our freedom. The Respect
for Rights of Conscience
Act is one of several
bills that have been
introduced for this very
purpose.
We cannot become
complacent or allow
ourselves to be
distracted by incomplete
proposals presented as
definitive solutions.
The
Bishops’ Ad Hoc
Committee for Religious
Liberty is working
on a formal response and
action steps. In the
weeks and months ahead,
please continue to pray
and share this
information with others
so that we may reverse
the effects of this
misguided regulation.
In the hope that this
information is helpful
and with every good
wish, I am
Faithfully in Christ,
Donald Cardinal Wuerl
Archbishop of Washington
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