Fortnight for Freedom Begins; CHA Finally Rejects HHS Mandate

The Fortnight for Freedom religious liberty campaign initiated by the Catholic Church begins June 21 and runs through July 4. Numerous activities will take place during the Fortnight to underscore the adamant and united stand of people of many faiths to the Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate which requires that religious institutions and individuals provide drugs and services in violation of their religious beliefs and conscience.

This unprecedented assault on religious liberty by the Obama administration, calculated to attract votes for the President’s re-election, has been met with stubborn and broad opposition. Stunned by the initial outcry, the Obama administration quickly changed tactics and proposed a phony “accommodation” which would place the burden of the mandate on insurance companies instead of institutions.

The Catholic Health Association (CHA), a network of more than 2,000 Catholic hospitals and health care facilities, initially opposed the HHS mandate but then accepted the “accommodation.” Late last week, the CHA sent a letter to HHS rejecting the “accommodation.” Sister Carol Keehan wrote: “The more we learn, the more it appears that the…approaches for both insured and self-insured plans would be unduly cumbersome and would be unlikely to adequately meet the religious liberty concerns of all of our members and other Church ministries.” The CHA concludes that, “it is imperative for the Administration to abandon the narrow definition of ‘religious employer’ and instead use an expanded definition to exempt from the contraceptive mandate not only churches, but also Catholic hospitals, health care organizations and other ministries of the Church.”

So the Administration has lost one of its closest allies in passing the Obamacare law. It is important to note that the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) and Wisconsin Right to Life strongly opposed a provision added to Obamacare dealing with “preventive health services.” This provision, which provides the authority for the current HHS mandate, gives the HHS Secretary broad authority to mandate coverage of any medical service. In a second Obama term, HHS could easily add elective abortion to the list of preventive health services which would be required to be provided.

As NRLC’s Legislative Director Doug Johnson explains, “The same twisted logic will be applied. By ordering health plans to cover elective abortion, health plans would save the much higher costs of prenatal care, childbirth, and care for the baby.”

It is imperative that all citizens work tirelessly to defeat the HHS mandate and preserve one of our most basic freedoms — the freedom of religion.

Barbara Lyons