In a letter to the editor in the March 6 County Post West, P. D. Hill states that no one is mandated to take birth control. This is true. The mandate does state that the insurance companies and employers must provide coverage for birth control upon demand.
This mandate by the U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) also applies to abortion. The mandate applies to all religions and insurance providers, including hospitals, universities and charities, and if they do not provide these “services” there are continuing fines until they do.
Yes, an additional grace period of one year has been granted. Yes, the insurance companies must pay if the employer declines to do so. Yet, under the U.S. Constitution, there is religious freedom, and this mandate violates this protected human right.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops stated that this mandate is unacceptable, and must be corrected. The only complete solution is for HHS to rescind the mandate.
Hill states that this issue is less about religious freedom than individual freedom. That’s his opinion, but it becomes a whimsical one at that in the face of the astute leaders and teachers of the Catholic Church, who have stated otherwise. In a March poll, 79 percent of Americans favor significant abortion restrictions.
Catholic Cardinal Timothy Dolon, along with his committee of ten U.S. bishops, urges the laity to bring their faith-based convictions on contraception and abortion to the public square. Accordingly, if you agree that this mandate is unconstitutional, you are kindly asked to write your U.S. representative, asking him to co-sponsor the “Respect for Rights of Conscience Act” (H.R. 1179/S. 1467).
This is not child’s play. It may also be the beginning of total erosion of the Constitution of the United States!