I have my own thoughts about last Friday’s “accomodation” by the White House and the HHS, but I am saving those for my First Things column, tomorrow, so here is what has developed over the weekend on that front: Law Prof William Jacobson remembers the “odd” debate question: Remember when George Stephanopoulos, at the New Hampshire Republican debate on January 7, brought up and harped on whether the candidates thought states could ban contraception? Everyone, at least on our side... Read more
From Mark in the comments section, from another post: Just wanted to pass on that my wife Greta passed away today. She died while I was reading her the Gospel of John which was her favorite and mine. Her last words to me were to keep fighting for the babies and against the party of death. What many do not know is that Greta’s sister died in the Nazi death camps. She was not a Jew, but a Catholic who... Read more
Rocco Palmo at Whispers in the Loggia has it: BISHOPS STUDYING INITIAL WHITE HOUSE MOVEMENT ON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY *New opportunity to dialogue with executive branch, obtain details ::: *Too soon to tell whether and how much improvement on core concerns::: *Commitment to religious liberty for all means legislation still necessary::: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) sees initial opportunities in preserving the principle of religious freedom after President Obama’s announcement today. But the Conference continues to express concerns.... Read more
This morning I wrote what I had anticipated in the Obama “accommodation” and the reaction. I expect President Obama will come out and say something that sounds wonderful and conciliatory and that seems reasonable to people who are eager to reconcile with the president and give themselves permission to vote for him again in November. I also expect that beyond the words, what the President offers will be too little — the government miserly granting to us pieces of freedom... Read more
UPDATE::: Read Bishops first and second responses::: From Jake Tapper at ABC News, Obama to Announce Contraception Rule ‘Accommodation’ for Religious Organizations: With the White House under fire for its new rule requiring employers including religious organizations to offer health insurance that fully covers birth control coverage, at 12:15 p.m. ET, President Obama will announce an attempt to accommodate these religious groups. The move, based on state models, will almost certainly not satisfy bishops and other religious leaders since it... Read more
Found this floating around twitter; wish I knew who to credit. As concerns the Obamacare HHS Mandate forcing religious entities to pay for insurances covering employee sterilization, contraception and abortifacients, the more worn-out and tired non-thinking, knee-jerk phrase I’ve encountered this week in my email or in various comboxes and more than a few op-ed pieces or columns is “it’s just birth control.” As Kathleen Parker neatly informs: No, it ain’t Actually there may be a tie between that and... Read more
Yesterday K-Lo at Large (aka Kathryn Jean Lopez) and I had an opportunity to spend twenty minutes or so talking together with Pat Gohn at her great Among Women Podcasts, specifically about the HHS Mandate, and why it is a destructive and illiberal business. Do listen online, here or at itunes. Pat is a golden-voiced and knowledgeable moderator, and there is a wee inside joke going on at one point, about how we speak when we are passionate. What can... Read more
(Photo by Sergio Dionisio/Getty) Well, slap my face and call me Sally, what a surprise to read this in a secular paper, where Michael Brendan Dougherty and Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry write: Painting the Catholic Church as “out of touch” is like shooting fish in a barrel, what with the funny hats and gilded churches. And nothing makes it easier than the Church’s stance against contraception. [. . .] Here’s the thing, though: the Catholic Church is the world’s biggest and oldest... Read more
Great news via Glenn Reynolds, who does a great job of keeping us all informed on successful therapies related to stem cells. This time, it’s Fracture Putty: Broken bones can mean weeks of having to wear a cast and the muscle atrophy that comes with that. More severe breaks can take months to mend, result in restricted movement, or in the worst cases the possible loss of a limb. There’s also the chance of re-fracture due to the amount of... Read more
Found over at New Advent (which you should be visiting every day!) there is this headline: Anonymous White House sources: Sebelius led fight for contraception edict, while VP Biden warned Obama about backlash from Catholic voters….. President Barack Obama ended months of internal White House debate by siding with a group of mostly female advisers who urged him not to limit a health-care law mandate to provide contraceptives, even at the risk of alienating Catholic voters in November, people familiar... Read more
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