WASHINGTON, D.C., MAY 21, 2012 (Zenit.org).-
A total of 43 dioceses, hospitals, schools and Church agencies have filed 12
lawsuits in various courts of the United States as part of the ongoing dispute
with the federal government over the move by the Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS) to oblige Catholic organizations to pay for contraception and
abortifacients.
“Time is running out, and our valuable ministries and fundamental
rights hang in the balance, so we have to resort to the courts now,” explained
Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, president of the U.S. Conference of
Catholic Bishops (USCCB), in a statement today.
The regulations introduced by the HHS will force Catholic
organizations and employers to provide abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization
and contraception to their employees free of charge.
“We have tried negotiation with the Administration and legislation
with the Congress – and we’ll keep at it – but there's still no fix,” the
cardinal said.
Cardinal Dolan described the coordinated legal action as “a
compelling display of the unity of the Church in defence of religious liberty.”
“It's also a great show of the diversity of the Church's
ministries that serve the common good and that are jeopardized by the mandate –
ministries to the poor, the sick, and the uneducated, to people of any faith or
no faith at all,” he added.
In explaining why it was a party to the legal action, the Our
Sunday Visitor Publishing Division explained that the regulations narrowly
define what constitutes a religious employer. As a result the vast majority of
Catholic organizations, including universities, hospitals, charitable
organizations, and publishing companies will not qualify for an exclusion from
the obligation to cover the services that are in contradiction with Catholic
teaching.
Violating beliefs
"Our lawsuit raises two questions," said Gregory
Erlandson, president of the Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division:
"Whether the government can use such criteria to define the religiousness
of an organization, and whether the government may force religious institutions
and individuals to provide and facilitate services which violate their
religious beliefs."
A press release from the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C.,
explained that it is a part of the lawsuit because the HHS rules violate the
First Amendment and federal law by forcing Catholic organizations to sacrifice
their beliefs in order to be able to continue their mission of serving all
people in need.
“For the first time in this country’s history, the government’s
new definition of religious institutions suggests that some of the very
institutions that put our faith into practice -- schools, hospitals, and social
service organizations -- are not ‘religious enough,’” said Cardinal Donald
Wuerl, archbishop of Washington.
The Catholic University of America is another of the plaintiffs.
Its president, John Garvey, issued a statement in which he explained that while
the initial protests over the new regulations led President Obama to concede
that insurance companies would pay for the mandated services, such a compromise
would not solve the moral objections.
The services would still be part of the cost of an insurance
policy, which the Catholic University and other religious organizations have to
buy. “In the end the University, its employees, and its students will be forced
to pay for the prescriptions and services we find objectionable,” Garvey noted.
“Unless we can get judicial relief, we will soon have to take
steps to conform to a rule we view as immoral,” he declared.
Immoral
The Archdiocese of St. Louis and Catholic Charities of St. Louis
are also part of the legal action against the federal government. Archbishop
Robert Carlson said that the lawsuit filed today is not about contraceptives.
He said it is about freedom to practice religion. “[Religious
liberty] is our first, most-cherished freedom and it requires constant
vigilance and protection or it will be lost.” He added, “As a shepherd, I
cannot remain silent while the right of Catholics to practice our faith is
eroded!”
The lawsuits just announced are not the only ones pending
regarding the HHS rules. In past months a number of other Catholic
organizations have filed lawsuits in various federal courts.
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is involved in a number of
these lawsuits, acting on behalf of Belmont Abbey College, a Catholic liberal
arts college founded by Benedictine monks, and Colorado Christian University,
an evangelical college located outside of Denver.
Subsequently, in February, the Becket Fund filed on behalf of the
Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) and Ave Maria University.
No comments:
Post a Comment