So now the Catholics got beef. Catholic institutions have moved to sue the Obama Administration today to ultimately block a government regulation that requires employers to provide health insurance coverage for contraception to their employees.
The regulation, which is part of the president's healthcare reform law, has sparked beef between the administration and the Roman Catholic Church, which is not down with artificial contraception.
Some 43 Catholic groups including Notre Dame University, the Catholic University of America and the Archdiocese of New York filed 12 different suits across the country to reinforce the fact that they're not okay with the law.
The organizations are accusing the federal government for being insensitive and all around shitty towards their religious beliefs for basically thugging them to support contraception, sterilization and birth control.
The original law exempted churches and other houses of worship from covering contraception on the basis of religious objections. However the original regulation did not specify an exception for religious nonprofit groups, like schools, hospitals and charities. Which prompted church leaders stand up and collectively ask WTF, bro?!
To compromise, the Pres dialed back the rule back in February (which prompted the POTUS to ask back WTF, guys). So Obama met Catholic institutions in the middle a full 90+ days ago announcing that insurance companies would cover the cost of contraception for its employees. So i ask you what is beef? Well, beef is in this case when the complainers say the accomodation didn't go far enough (WTF, bro!!).
"In order to safeguard their religious freedoms, religious employers must plead with the government for a determination that they are sufficiently ‘religious,'" Notre Dame said in its lawsuit, filed in Indiana federal court.
Under the revised mandate, religious organizations can only qualify for the exemption if their purpose is to spread their religious beliefs. Additionally, they must also primarily employ and serve people with the identical religious values.
The Institution's lawsuit claims that this degree of federal scrutiny radically goes against the law separating church and state. Notre Dame was bitchin' that they didn't know whether their school qualifies for the exemption because they emphasize the employment and service of people of all faiths.
Jane Belford, chancellor of the Archdiocese of Washington which joined one suit, basically drew a line in the sand saying "the groups aimed to challenge the government's redefinition of religion".
"While this mandate paid lip service to the rights of conscience and religious liberty, it created a definition that was so narrow, even the work of Mother Theresa would not have qualified as religious," Belford said.
While the Department of Health and Human Services declined to comment on the litigation the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops did not involve its self in any lawsuit but did praise the individual dioceses, charities and schools for upholding religious liberty.
This stance should probably be taken seriously because at least 11 other lawsuits have previously been filed against the contraceptive mandate. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops submitted comments to the Department of Health and Human Services on May 15 warning the administration of today's lawsuits: "Absent prompt congressional attention to this infringement on fundamental civil liberties, we believe the only remaining recourse ... is in the courts."
Jennifer Dalven, a lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union, said the mandate was not new. In fact twenty-eight states have laws requiring insurers to cover birth control to the same extent as other medications.
"The lawsuits make it seem like taking a job is the same as joining a church. But organizations that participate in the public sphere are supposed to abide by public rules," Dalven said.
Props to Terry Baynes on the original report.
