The bishops reaffirmed their stance that “the government has no place defining religion and religious ministry” and that the current attempt to do so is unconstitutional.
“So no matter what new rules may be proposed to apply this distinction, it remains radically flawed,” they said.
Rather than merely granting limited religious freedom under certain circumstances, the federal government must respect the fullness of religious liberty for both individuals and institutions, they insisted.
The bishops warned that the mandate “now poses a threat to the rights not only of religious employers but of parents as well.”
They noted that while the administration has claimed to promote women’s choice, the new recommendations leave women with no choice over whether their minor children will be offered “free” and “private” contraception and related “education and counseling.”
The suggested provisions even allow for the possibility of groups such as Planned Parenthood to take on the task of intervening into family life, regardless of whether the parents consent to them doing so.
The bishops observed that some of the more detailed proposals laid out by the administration “seem intended to lessen the degree of ‘cooperation in evil’ required of non-exempt religious organizations.”
However, they explained, “they do so by depriving these organizations of the ability to determine their employee and student benefits in accordance with their faith and moral teaching.”
By delegating the responsibilities associated with the coverage to other parties, they said, the government could be introducing parties that “are hostile to religious principles and the rights of parents.”
As a general principle, they added, “protecting a religious organization from being forced to act in conflict with its teaching by depriving it of the ability to act at all is no way to serve religious freedom.”
The bishops explained that they will be working to provide more detailed comments on the recommendations and are willing to continue meeting with the Obama administration to discuss them as well.
However, they added, the Church will also work with other religious groups to “seek relief from the legislature and redress in the courts.”
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