The Obama HHS 'Compromise' Switches the Tiger for the Lion

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
2/11/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Compromise shifts onus of immorality from the employer to the employer.

In an effort to save his administration from collapsing under the weight of the controversy caused by the oppressive Health and Human Services (HHS) edict requiring Catholics to violate their conscience, President Obama announced a "compromise". Unfortunately, the compromise is a thinly veiled smoke and mirrors act of political theater.

The Obama compromise changes nothing. The Right to Religious Freedom is Still being devoured.

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LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Perhaps hoping to fool the innocent into believing that a crisis has been averted, President Obama announced that the Catholic Church and other Christian organizations and outreaches would no longer be forced to cover sterilization procedures and provide contraception and abortifacients in direct violation of their conscience.

The HHS mandate was widely condemned across the Nation as a blatant attack on the Church. It is a violation of the First Amendment Right to the Free Exercise of Religion. It was also widely condemned as a coercive act which, in effect, compels people to violate their deeply held religious beliefs - and violate their consciences - or face severe government sanction.

However, the Obama "compromise" announced on Friday, January 10, 2012 has merely shifted the onus of immorality from the religious employer directly to - the religious employer, indirectly.

The compromise states that Churches and other religious organizations would not have to pay for those services which they find morally objectionable, and that instead those services would be paid for directly by insurance companies.
However, this is still an attack on the Church and her Rights. It merely amounts to exchanging the tiger for the lion in the arena.

TINSTAAFL (There is no such thing as a free lunch)

The old economic adage and popular slang puts it this way, "there is no such thing as a free lunch."
The insurance companies are still going to charge the insuring employer for these services, albeit in an indirect manner. That also means religious employers will still be paying for these services, even if only in the form of higher premiums for their employees.

There is another problem, even more severe. One cannot violate the Natural Moral Law, even indirectly. Professor Robert D' Estro of the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America put it this way, "It's a shell game."

So while the compromise may fool some, the Church, ever alert, is taking its time examining whether the devil is in the details. The US Bishops have not yet formally responded to the President's proposed resolution.They have only expressed hope that it is a step in the right direction. Stay tuned.

However, in a statement, Pro-life, Pro-freedom, and Pro-family Representative, Chris Smith (R-NJ), a Catholic, told Lifesite news, "The so-called new policy is the discredited old policy, dressed up to look like something else. It remains a serious violation of religious freedom. Only the most na�ve or gullible would accept this as a change in policy."

He continued, "The White House Fact Sheet is riddled with doublespeak and contradiction. It states, for example, that religious employers 'will not' have to pay for abortion pills, sterilization and contraception, but their 'insurance companies' will. Who pays for the insurance policy? The religious employer."

There should be no mistake on the part of the people who are deeply concerned about this edict. This is a very real battle which is not over. What is at stake is the Right to the Free Exercise of Religion from a Constitutional perspective. It is a struggle for for the very conscience and soul of the United States.

Compelling the Church to "indirectly" distribute contraceptives - including abortion inducing drugs - and to provide for sterilization - indirectly - is no accomodation.

The resolution of this dispute will decide if America is a Nation which truly recognizes the existence of inalienable rights and respects Religious Freedom. Or, will the current administration take its place with the oppressive regimes of the world who disregard fundamental human rights such as the Right to Life and the Right to Religious Freedom?

� 2012, Catholic Online. Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

- - -

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, lion, persecution, HHS, mandate, edict, birth control, first amendment, conscience, abortion, birth control, insurance, Obamacare

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1 - 10 of 26 Comments

DLL
1 year ago
If the insurance companies pick up the costs for so called "free health care for women" to include birth control and abortions,contraceptives and the like,than the rest of us will pay plenty for it all by paying high deductibles on our insurance policies every year. Five hundred dollar deductibles will become a thousand,two thousand,three thousand deductibles,etc.every year,as meantime the cost for a policy for healthcare will go up for everyone as well. This is passing all costs to the consumer folks! The guy who needs emergency gall bladder surgery will die because they can't afford to pay the deductible but thats okay,as a fifteen year year old girl can have birth control pills for free,so that she can have all the sex she wants and her parent's won't even have a right to know this,as all this will be a part of the young girls private,highly to be protected,medical record. HIPPA Laws prevail as her "Protection"! Common sense died,as will all Religious freedom,all family structure,traditional marriage,all logical,predictable,cause and effect determinations,for fair and equitable justice for all people and all sense of common decency. It is sad the "Culture of Death"is NOW a culture of chaos which means that we are inviting Hell on earth. If one doesn't believe in the devil than this entity has become US! Agenda ,selfishness,stupidity,ignorance,dishonesty,bullheadedness and the like have become the relative thinking god that is the devil. Praise be to our Lord and our God,Jesus Christ. I would never laugh whenever one sees the sign that says "JESUS SAVES"! Just believe it and PRAY for MERCY>Lord have Mercy,Christ have Mercy,Lord have Mercy.
Rob
1 year ago
I have no confidence in a court that gave us Roe v Wade, tells us corporations are people with free speech rights to do anything but make gay marriage the law of the land. That is my prediction.
Vance
1 year ago
Rob, I believe it was JoAnn who addressed the issue of the faithful vs the Bishops and clergy who are Saul Alinskyites. I am in total agreement with you on the lack of practicing our faith and living our Sacraments. Sunday come and Sunday go the faithful are treated to nothingness Homilies or they support a Liberal cause. These Alinskyites are behind the scenes discouraging the faithful at every turn. The word is out on me in my dioceses. The COPA Bishop of my dioceses had the uncomfortable occasion to shake my hand reluctantly. Fr Frank Pavone is being harassed by his Bishop of Amarillo, Texas. These are not misguided, naive, or misinformed individuals. They are very deliberate and cogent in their behavior and endeavors. This is at the heart of why the faithful are not behaving in the manner which you and I would like.
SaraPalen
1 year ago
no, Marshal, it is already state law. Some homosexual "couples" in Minnesota wish to impose morality on the rest through the courts. A morality that relativises a long held definition of marriage-a matter of natural law when that constitution was written. If so, it can be challenged at any time in the future to mean anything to anyone lest one be called a bigot for standing by a single definition.
Rob
1 year ago
vance, I understand and share you anger about prop 8. But we have to really take a long, hard look at ourselves. We really treat the marriage sacrament no better. Most parishes have joke marriage prep programs, if any at all. There is virtually no investement in healthy marriages by parishes and we have the divorce rates to show for it. It's good that all these fights have come about and can be fought on constitutional grounds. Because if it were not for that, we'd have no fight. We do not practice what we preach. It's hard for a non-believing society to take us seriously these days on these matters of faith and morals when we don't teach it, we don't live it and our demographics are almost the same as the greater society. Maybe the "godless" are waging war, but I can determine if they are getting stronger or if we are just getting weaker. I think we are going to have to lose a lot before people wake up. I'm going to a large diocesean meeting tonight. I'm curious to see if the issue of contraception even comes up.
Rob
1 year ago
vance, I agree with you. But I fear that is is merely going to be defense of a right that only lives on paper. While these grotesque laws offend God, I think he is more interested in what's in our hearts and by our actions. If our Christianity is limited to political activism, I'm not sure how we are any better than the pharisees. They defended the law with everything in them, even to the point of crucifying the Lord. But they never lived the heart of the law. If we don't, then I'm not sure we win anything.
vance
1 year ago
marshall garneau, The reason we have a Proposition 8 issue is that the anti-God, anti-Catholic Church crowd is trying to force their amorality down the throats of the faithful. This is what it is all about It is an attack on religion and the values of the faithful. Obama's attack on the Catholic Church is an attack on your 1st Amendment Rights. If there is no Freedom to exercise our Religious beliefs, THERE ARE NO FREEDOMS. Yes, that means you too. This is all about the Constitution not Homosexual Marriage or abortion.
marshall garneau
1 year ago
I am very saddened to hear and read about this controversy. My reaction is the following:
I will be very happy to keep out of the church's internal business, if the church will keep out of
the business of those like myself who do not ascribe to Catholic beliefs. One example is that I have read many articles from conservative Catholics that they want to block birth control from
all Americans. Another example is on the issue of Gay marriage. In my state(Minnesota), the
Catholic church is leading the charge for a constitutional amendment banning it, to the
tune of $800, 000 donated so far.
The point here is that your church keeps saying that something is a moral issue, and so
you feel it is your duty to press your moral issues on everyone else.
Gary Osborne
1 year ago
Who pays the income taxes on the “free” contraception coverage given to employees of religiously affiliated universities and hospitals?

Obama announces contraception compromise. Under the new plan, religiously affiliated universities and hospitals will not be forced to offer contraception coverage to their employees. Insurers will be required, however, to offer complete coverage free of charge to any women who work at such institutions. February 10, 2012 By Alan Silverleib, CNN.
John Mclachlan
1 year ago
Cacique, I believe that the motivation for this particular mandate is not about the actual provision of contraception or abortion, since these are already freely and affordably available to all who desire them. Instead, I think that it is a deliberate attempt to corrupt not just the church as an institution, but all of the US citizenry, by rendering all working citizens as accomplices to murder.

As a state senator, Obama voted, in accordance with his supposedly christian conscience, against a bill which mandated that children who survived a late term abortion should be protected as human beings.

Regardless of whether or not abortion is murder, a child which is no longer in any way associated with its mother must be regarded as a human being in its own right and therefore killing it as murder. This is what president Obama has already voted for, by opposing the protection of such children.

I am not a US citizen, but I follow American politics with interest, since I believe that the US is the de facto guardian of western civilization. I observed Obama's 2008 presidential campaign and I considered it blasphemous at the time, though few agreed.

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