Abortion Advocates Upset Over President's Talk with Archbishop Dolan

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
11/21/2011
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Abortion advocates are afraid Obama will uphold the First Amendment rights of churches

The Department of Health and Human Services will soon mandate that private health insurance plans provide contraceptive services, some of which are abortifacent, to women at no cost. Under the mandate's "religious exemption" some claim that churches can exempt themselves from this requirement. However, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and other religious organizations have been lobbying hard to petition Congress and the White House to expand the exemption because the "exemption" has no real effect and is a violation of the First Amendment.

Archbishop Timothy Dolan recently met with President Obama to advocate for respect for the fundamental Right to Life of the unborn and the conscience rights of the Church to not participate in abortion and contraceptive distribution

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LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The churches and other groups are asking the White House to include hospitals, schools, nonprofits, and other religious affiliated organizations in the exemption. This would prevent those organizations from being required to pay for or distribute contraception, some of which is abortifacent, resulting in the death of unborn human life.

Abortion advocates are insisting that expanding the so called religious exemption would leave women without access to contraception, and that this somehow threatens women's health.

Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) a member of the Pro-Choice Caucus said on Friday, "it's going to be tough to ask for women's votes in 2012 if their last impression of him [Obama] is his willingness to trade their health coverage options for politics."

These abortion advocates maintain President Obama has been paying more attention to the Catholic bishops than he has the pro-choice lobby. Abortion advocates are expressing frustration at the amount of attention Catholic lobbyists have received.However, the alleged "exemption" actually has no real effect. n its present form it would compel Catholic and other Pro-Life institutions to violate their consciences or shut down their operations.Millions of people who need health care would suffer.

Archbishop Timothy Dolan commented last week that he felt somewhat better following a private meeting with President Obama. "I found the President of the United States to be very open to the sensitivities of the Catholic community. I left there feeling a bit more at peace about this issue than when I entered," the Archbishop recently said.

But last Friday Obama finally granted a conference call to the Pro-Choice Caucus. A White House staffer who asked to remain anonymous said, "Members are so nervous that the White House is going to expand the religious exemption that they demanded to have a conference call, but even getting that was a very heavy lift. It's never been more clear to me than today that the primary element of pressure on the White House is being orchestrated by the bishops. I don't know if they're meeting with the White House, I don't know what kind of access they have, but I do find it troubling that the Pro Choice Caucus hasn't been able to meet with the White House yet."

Lowey expressed her surprise that the president was even entertaining the issue in the first place. She told reporters that she believes the attention the religious lobby has received indicates that Obama regards them as a powerful group. Lowey said, ""Let me say this: I don't have first hand information that the lobby is stronger on the other side, but the fact that the White House is asking for opinions and advice makes it clear to me they've been very powerful."

Meanwhile Sr. Mary Ann Walsh, spokeswoman for the US conference of Catholic Bishops explained that the Pro-Life point of view. "A Catholic organization cannot be forced to pay for services that go against its teaching. It's just untenable. We're hoping for a decision which respects religious freedom." She made clear, as have others, that to remain unprotected from the religious exemption would be tantamount to trampling on the First Amendment rights of the church. It would also be tantamount to the Government forcefully violating conscience.

� 2011, Catholic Online. Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Obama, abortion, pro-life, pro-choice, conscience protection, religious exemption, Archbishop Timothy Dolan

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1 - 10 of 14 Comments

Kim Layton
1 year ago
Thank God for Archbishop Dolan!! I know our faith will be greatly tested in this country and in the world, Are we pew warmer's or are we really witnesses for Christ? WE MUST STAND UP, NO MORE "sitting on the fence". Either we are for our moral values or we are not.
Carla Lies
1 year ago
Stop preaching to the choir, people! Call/email /snail mail your congressional representatives and the white house. That is what I did today, and it's what you should do too. Also, when commenting on sites like this, remind people what the Catholic teaching on birth control and abortion is. Remind those who are in support of birth control and abortion that they are not following Catholic teaching, and out of communion.
vance
1 year ago
WBC, My sentiments exactly.
WBC
1 year ago
Prediction: Obama will continue to be polite and attentive to the Bishops. He will then pander to the pro-aborts and feminists and make the conscience exemptions meaningless. The Bishops will then complain but do nothing. Meanwhile Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden, and other so-called Catholic politicians will attend Mass and receive the sacraments without so much as a private caution. Canon law requires that unrepentant public sinners be forbidden the Eucharist - for the sake of the scandalized faithful and for the sake of their own souls. But the Bishops simply do not have the cojones to follow what doctrine clearly demands.

This is the inevitable result of national Bishops' conferences. Since everything must be done by consensus, no action can be taken unless approved by the most gutless among them.
Bulbajer
1 year ago
Let's hope...
hoary
1 year ago
With Catholics like Sebelius, Biden, the Kennedys, Pelosi, et al, the church needs no enemies. It is being destroyed from within. Add to that spineless, gutless bishops who will take no stand on barring the above from Holy Communion. With the exception of a few holy bishops, the USCCB is morally bankrupt.
robert matzinger
1 year ago
Obama, by the office he holds, is the most powerful supporter and advocate of abortion. And he has no intention of changing his position on abortion and will promote it in the form of Planned Parenthood and any other organization. And I'm sure he thinks he's hoodwinked Archbishop Dolan and if our Archbishop feels better after this meeting - then he is fooled!.
JeanCatherine
1 year ago
Larry and others

It should be talked about in the church bulletin but if you need information out there on church teaching there are many Catholic Bloggers. Im trying to set up my blog as a teaching tool in layperson's thinking and I try very hard to stay within the mainframe of the Magisterium. Anyone interested in my blog as a reference only please see: Jean'sBistro2010's. Just put it in the websearch it should come up. I try to keep it current or at least have links to other sights that do so.
John
1 year ago
And God Bless those like Father Barron and the writers here at Catholic Online for getting this message out!
Larry
1 year ago
Timothy Dolan is an extremely effective Bishop. His writings on marriage and abortion etc. should be published in the weekely newsletters at all the local parishes. When I leave church everyone grabs a copy of the parish news letter. The audience is waiting for leadership and looking for ways to be effective christians. Going to church will never be just enough when there is so much work to be done.

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