Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options

Congress should reaffirm the principle that government “should not force anyone to stop offering or covering much-needed legitimate health care” because of a conscientious objection to abortion or other procedures, said Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, O.F.M.Cap., of Boston and Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore. In a letter on Feb. 13 to the House of Representatives, the bishops, who chair the Committee on Pro-Life Activities and the Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, urged legislators to support and co-sponsor the Health Care Conscience Rights Act (HR 940). “It is increasingly obvious that Congress needs to act to protect conscientious objection to the taking of innocent human life,” wrote Cardinal O’Malley and Archbishop Lori. “Recently California’s Department of Managed Health Care began demanding that all health plans under its jurisdiction include elective abortions, including late-term abortions. This mandate has no exemption for religious or moral objections, and is being enforced against religious universities, schools and even churches.”

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
Henry George
9 years ago
This may seem extreme but why don't all the Bishops and the Pope ask all Catholics to stop paying taxes until the abortions of healthy babies is no longer a public right. Excommunicate those politicians who do not actively oppose abortions but instead sign bills allowing/expanding access to abortions. Are we not morally cooperating when our tax monies go to support Police Protections for Abortion Mills ? Isn't the Politician morally cooperating, if indeed not, actively initiating more abortions by making it easier to have abortions ? Why do we take such moral umbrage that our pooled insurance money might be spent on abortions when 1,000,000 legalized deaths take place each year and the Church ask little of us save the occasional public protest on the Saturday closest to the Anniversary of Roe vs. Wade ?

The latest from america

Jesuit Father Andriy Zelinskyy, coordinator of military chaplains for the Ukrainian Catholic Church, is pictured in a 2018 photo.
When reflecting on the life, death and resurrection of the Lord while living in a state of military invasion and active war, “everything becomes more authentic,” and “God ceases to be just a concept,” says Andriy Zelinskyy, S.J. “He really becomes a source of life and all hope for you and for
PreachMarch 17, 2024
One study showed Catholics donated the least amount of money of all denominations surveyed.
Kevin ClarkeMarch 15, 2024
Bishop Luis Manuel Alí Herrera and Teresa Morris Kettlekamp will lead the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.
Gerard O’ConnellMarch 15, 2024
The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that exemptions that allow religious organizations to avoid paying Wisconsin’s unemployment tax don’t apply to a Catholic charitable organization.