Monday, February 6, 2012

More on the Attacks on Religious Liberty

In her Saturday column (A Battle the President Can't Win) in the Wall Street Journal this weekend, Peggy Noonan put the President's attack on Catholic religious liberty in perspective this weekend:

The president signed off on a Health and Human Services ruling that says that under ObamaCare, Catholic institutions—including charities, hospitals and schools—will be required by law, for the first time ever, to provide and pay for insurance coverage that includes contraceptives, abortion-inducing drugs and sterilization procedures. If they do not, they will face ruinous fines in the millions of dollars. Or they can always go out of business.
In other words, the Catholic Church was told this week that its institutions can't be Catholic anymore.

I invite you to imagine the moment we are living in without the church's charities, hospitals and schools. And if you know anything about those organizations, you know it is a fantasy that they can afford millions in fines.
There was no reason to make this ruling—none. Except ideology.

The conscience clause, which keeps the church itself from having to bow to such decisions, has always been assumed to cover the church's institutions.
And the Media Research Center has been following the mainstream news channels coverage of the Obama administration's suppression of Catholic religious liberties. Actually, it's not coverage. It's non-coverage. If you haven't been hearing about it, there's a reason. See:

CBS Avoids Catholic Clash with Obama, Focuses on Church Being Stolen Blind
Nets Rush to Defend Planned Parenthood, Ignore Catholics Dispute with Obama
Network Newscasts Blackout of Mandate on Catholics Continues, But Sunday Talk Shows Take It Up
Enjoy it when it happens to you too!

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