Religious liberty and contraception
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Earlier this year, President Obama compromised with U.S. Catholic bishops on access to birth control, by requiring health insurance companies that insure employees at Catholic-associated non-church institutions to provide contraception within their insurance starting in 2013. The President’s decision angered some on the right and on the left.
Now in June, the U.S. Catholic bishops have started a campaign to redefine religious liberty. Even though the vast majority of U.S. Catholics use modern contraception at some time in their reproductive years, the bishops campaign shouts from the pulpit that that limits religious freedom of the policies they support. By doing so, they deny the religious liberty of those who wish to be free of the dictates of the U.S. bishops.
The bishops idea of “religious freedom” means that employers, not medical professionals, should choose which safe, preventive, legal medications and procedures their employees can access, and which they can’t. For example, a Notre Dame or Marquette professor, who might or might not be Catholic, would not have contraception included within their health insurance even though 98% of Catholics and 99% of non-Catholics in the U.S. use contraception at some point in their lives. This simply requires the employees to shoulder the burden of paying for almost universally used contraception.
Contact President Obama, Senators Johnson and Kohl, and Representative Duffy, and tell them that you believe in religious liberty determined by medical professionals and employees, not by the dictates of Catholic bishops.
