{"id":2351,"date":"2013-02-19T00:05:00","date_gmt":"2013-02-19T00:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/archbishop-lori-implores-congress-to-protect-conscience-rights\/"},"modified":"2013-02-19T00:05:00","modified_gmt":"2013-02-19T00:05:00","slug":"archbishop-implores-congress-to-protect-conscience-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/02\/archbishop-implores-congress-to-protect-conscience-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"Archbishop implores Congress to protect conscience rights"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Washington D.C., Feb 18, 2013 \/ 05:05 pm (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- In anticipation of upcoming legislation, Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore urged the nation\u2019s lawmakers to work this year \u201cto restore a tradition on rights of conscience in health care.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI fear that the federal government\u2019s respect for believers and people of conscience no longer measures up to the treatment Americans have a right to expect from their elected representatives,\u201d Archbishop Lori said in a Feb. 15 letter to Congress.<\/p>\n

\tThe archbishop, who heads the Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, voiced his support for several new legislative measures to protect religious freedom and warned of the negative consequences that would come from a failure to preserve rights of conscience.<\/p>\n

\tHe said that a current draft of an appropriations bill for the Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services contains \u201ctwo important provisions supported by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe first of these provisions would \u201cextend the longstanding federal policy on conscience\u201d to new programs and mandates created and covered by the Affordable Care Act.<\/p>\n

\tThis extension would ensure that \u201cAmericans are not forced to violate their fundamental moral and religious convictions in order to offer, sponsor and purchase health coverage,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

\tThe second important part of the bill would clarify nondiscrimination clauses, giving insurers and employees \u201cthe freedom to choose a plan consistent with their religious beliefs,\u201d the archbishop continued.<\/p>\n

\tThis clause would also protect health care professionals who refuse to prescribe or provide contraceptives due to their moral or religious beliefs.<\/p>\n

\tAppropriations and funding bills have been used in the past to ensure conscience protections, Archbishop Lori observed, adding that such protections were instituted by President Bill Clinton and have enjoyed bipartisan support since then.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cIt can hardly be said that all these Presidents and Congresses, of both parties, had been waging a war on women,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

\tThe archbishop also criticized attempts to restrict conscience protections, saying that he has \u201cseen no evidence\u201d that laws protecting religious freedom \u201chave done any harm to women or to their advancement in society.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tInstead, he told members of Congress, there is \u201ca new, more grudging attitude in recent years toward citizens whose faith or moral principles are not in accord with the views of the current governing power.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tHe noted that while the Obama administration\u2019s decision to mandate insurance coverage of contraceptives, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs, \u201cis hailed by some as a victory for women\u2019s freedom, it permits no free choice\u201d for women who object to this coverage for themselves and their minor children due to moral or religious beliefs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\tArchbishop Lori echoed Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, who chairs the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in critiquing the \u201ccoercive element\u201d present in the latest proposal by the administration to amend the mandate.<\/p>\n

\tExplaining that \u201cthe new proposal falls short of meeting the hopes and expectations of many concerned about religious freedom,\u201d Archbishop Lori pointed to the narrow exemption for religious employers, the imposition into the private affairs of non-exempt religious groups and the mandate\u2019s disregard for the conscience rights of non-religious and for-profit employers.<\/p>\n

\tFurthermore, the new approach \u201cthreatens to undermine access to quality health care\u201d because it tells insurance providers and purchasers \u201cthat they need to drop their participation in the health care system if they want to preserve their religious and moral integrity,\u201d he added.
\n\t\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n\tQuoting Cardinal Dolan, he said that \u201cthe Nation\u2019s bishops remain committed to \u2018engaging with the Administration, and all branches and levels of government.\u2019\u201d
\n\t\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n\t\u201cA restoration of full respect for one of our Nation\u2019s founding values is urgently needed,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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