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Get Informed: NEW Bulletin Inserts

The USCCB will issue a series of educational bulletin inserts in English & Spanish over the coming months.

April-May 2012 -- Religious Liberty
If we are not free in our conscience and our practice of religion, all other freedoms are fragile.

Advocate: UPDATED Action Alert

The HHS is holding a public comment period on additional rulemaking that applies the mandate to religious employers. Let the Administration know you oppose their unjust, coercive mandate and the co-called "accommodation" that violates the conscience rights of institutions & individuals alike. The message to Congress has been updated in light of the Senate's activity on the bill earlier this spring.

Pray: NEW Religious Liberty & Conscience Protection Prayers

In light of multiple threats, our bishops are calling for a campaign of prayer & penance to restore religious liberty & conscience rights -- especially during the "Fortnight for Freedom" from June 21 - Independence Day, 2012.


More Background

On January 20, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reaffirmed a rule forcing virtually all private health care plans to cover sterilization, abortion-inducing drugs, and contraception. These are listed among "preventive services for women" that all health plans will have to cover without co-pays or other cost-sharing -- regardless of whether the insurer, the employer or other plan sponsor, or even the woman herself objects to such coverage.
The exemption provided for "religious employers" was so narrow that it failed to cover the vast majority of faith-based organizations—including Catholic hospitals, universities, and charities—that help millions every year. Ironically, not even Jesus and his disciples would have qualified for the exemption, because it excludes those who mainly serve people of another faith.
On February 10, the Obama Administration made this rule final “without change”; delayed enforcement for a year against religious nonprofits that were still not exempted (our charities, hospitals, and colleges); and promised to develop more regulations to “accommodate” them by the end of that additional year. But that promised “accommodation” still forces them to pay for “services” that violate their religious convictions.
  • The original rule that violated our religious liberty so severely has not been changed, but finalized.
  • HHS has promised some kind of “accommodation,” but only after the election.
  • The promised “accommodation”—even at its best—would still force our institutions to violate their beliefs.
  • There is no exemption for objecting insurers, secular employers, for-profit religious employers, or individuals.
Now that the Administration has refused to recognize the Constitutional conscience rights of organizations and individuals who oppose the mandate, the bishops are now urging Catholics and others of good will to fight this unprecedented attack on conscience rights and religious liberty.

We urgently need legislation to correct the mandate’s threats to religious liberty and conscience rights. The Respect for Rights of Conscience Act has been introduced in Congress (H.R. 1179/S. 1467) to ensure that those who participate in the market for health insurance “retain the right to provide, purchase, or enroll in health coverage that is consistent with their religious beliefs and moral convictions.”

More than 400 Catholic leaders have called on Congress and the Administration to protect conscience rights in health care. The open letter appeared as a full page ad featuring over 150 of those leaders in the New York Times and the Washington Post on December 21.

Get Informed & Take Action Now

  • Learn about some of the numerous federal laws and regulations that currently protect rights of conscientious objection.
  • "White House Misrepresents Its Own Contraceptive Mandate" To justify its widely-criticized mandate for contraception and sterilization coverage in private health plans, the Obama administration posted a set of false and misleading claims on the White House blog (“Health Reform, Preventive Services, and Religious Institutions,” February 1). This USCCB fact sheet quotes and responds to each claim in turn.


Select News Releases/Statements

Additional Resources on Conscience Protection

Want to know why the bishops are fighting the HHS insurance mandate? Need more material to help teach others - or prayers to join in solidarity with our bishops?

The following resources are available for use in a wide variety of settings, including universities & schools, associations, parishes, RCIA programs, and families.

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