Although the Obama administration’s “accommodation” for religious employers to a government mandate that contraceptives and sterilization be included in most health plans “may create an appearance of...compromise,” it does not change the administration’s fundamental position, attorneys for the U.S. bishops said on May 15. “We are convinced that no public good is served by this unprecedented nationwide mandate and that forcing individual and institutional stakeholders to sponsor and subsidize an otherwise widely available product over their religious and moral objections serves no legitimate, let alone compelling, government interest,” said Anthony R. Picarello and Michael F. Moses, general counsel and associate general counsel, respectively, to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in comments filed with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The comments were in response to the administration’s “advance notice of proposed rulemaking” published on March 16 in the Federal Register, which offered new ways for religious organizations to comply with the new requirements. The attorneys argued that the best solution to their objections would be to rescind the mandate.
No 'Accommodation'
Show Comments (
)
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
The latest from america
An interview on economics and Catholic social teaching with Joseph E. Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize winning economist and a professor at Columbia University.
Lesson one: I had to buy more stamps.
Celebrating the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea should give new energy to evangelization efforts, a new document from the International Theological Commission says.
In this episode of “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle and veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell walk us through the pontiff’s recovery, including “slight improvements” in his speech.