Justin O. Smith writes about the First Amendment and Obama’s attack on the First Amendment by instructing Catholic Hospitals to provide contraception and perform abortions.
JRH 3/9/12
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The Final Nail
By Justin O. Smith
Sent: 3/7/2012 1:50 PM
Nearly two months ago, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, senior presidential advisor Vallerie Jarrett and domestic policy advisor Melody Barnes pressed President Obama to aggressively implement the HHS mandated contraception addendum to Obamacare. In a blatant attack on the First Amendment, the Catholic Church and religious freedom in general, the Obama administration is attempting to force the Catholic Church, other religions and religious affiliated organizations to provide coverage for women's contraception and sterilization procedures, such as emergency contraceptive Plan B and Ella that destroy human embryos. This alone illustrates that this issue encompasses more than just contraception: an agenda exists that will eventually force abortion and much more upon doctors, medical facilities and church operated hospitals, even when it goes against their conscience and religious beliefs.
Naturally Planned Parenthood stated that they would oppose any compromise that made employees at religious affiliated institutions pay for their own contraceptives. But Planned Parenthood regularly dispenses free contraceptives to all who ask: if this isn't enough, Walmart has a generic contraceptive that is more than adequate and only costs $9.00 a month.
Early in the controversy, Pope Benedict warned of the grave threat that this mandate represented to religious freedom, while Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York reiterated that the mandate violates Catholic Church teaching, and he fiercely argued that the mandate is "immoral and unacceptable."
Archbishop Timothy Broglio has been at the forefront of this battle, even confronting the U.S. Army. In a letter that U.S. Army Chief of Chaplains forbade Army Chaplains from reading (many read it anyway) referring to Obama as "un-American", Archbishop Broglio encouraged Catholics in the military to disobey the mandate. As the letter closed, the Archbishop wrote: "The administration has cast aside the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States denying Catholics our nation's first and most fundamental freedom, that of religious liberty. And, as a result, unless the rule is overturned, we Catholics will be compelled to choose between violating our consciences or dropping health care coverage for our employees and suffering the penalties for so doing. We cannot...and will not...comply with this unjust law."
On March 1, 2012, the Senate voted against the Blunt Amendment (S.1467, H.R. 1179) which would have amended the mandate to prevent just the sort of unconstitutional imposition currently underway. During the debate, Sen. Mitch McConnel (R) called Obama's contraception mandate "abhorrent to the foundational principles" of our nation. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R) stated, "...our Constitution demands that those individuals and institutions that object to providing these services on religious and moral grounds be protected...under this administration, our Bill of Rights has been subordinated to Pres. Obama's desire to micromanage the nation's health care system."
In a typical Democrat non sequitur argument, Sen. Patty Murray (D) stated, "The Senate will not allow women's health care choices to be taken from them." The ignorance of this statement is astounding, since no one remotely suggested women's access to health care choices should be limited; Republicans simply wished to maintain the status quo in which more than ample access to health services currently exists through secular and non-profit companies and free service providers. However, a woman who believes that she is entitled to someone else's money to fund her sex life does not have any sense of right and wrong, responsibility for herself and self-respect, and she may have the mental illness known as "liberalism", Progressive Democrat style!
Even some early supporters of Obamacare, such as Sister Carol Keehan, now think that this new rule, arbitrarily issued through HHS, goes too far. Chris Matthews of "Hardball" (MSNBC) called the rule "frightening", and Washington Post columnist E.J Dionne stated that Obama had "utterly botched" this plan.
Their Catholic affiliated hospitals offer every single women's health service from mammograms to ultrasounds to PAP smears and more, as do all other religious affiliated hospitals much like Baptist Hospital in Nashville, TN. The Catholic Diocese simply does not wish to be involved in anything that endangers a human life...and, a woman's embryo is human life!
Do not be fooled America. This controversy over contraception is the proverbial "camel's nose under the tent"; a deeper issue revolves around any expanded use of taxpayer funds for abortion. Executive order 13535 supposedly addresses this problem; however, purported solutions in this area are viewed as legally invalid by many legal experts, while the balance of 13535 is legally valid, but void of solutions. this ambiguity is not an oversight, rather this occurred with the intent to eventually require everyone, even religion affiliated organizations, to comply with government mandates on abortion. Court challenges to this executive order have already been filed by the U.S. Conference of Bishops and the Beckett Fund for Religious Liberty.
Surely women cannot believe that their desire to have sex whenever they choose supersedes the First Amendment right to religious freedom (can they?). They certainly do not have a right to force the Catholic Church to pay for their contraception against Church beliefs; they can access secular insurance companies that have no objections, or they can pay for it themselves (don't tell me that they cannot find $9.00 a month) or go through Planned Parenthood or a free clinic. Aside from this...contraception and abortion are not "rights"!
After a furor arose from so many Americans, David Axelrod, senior advisor to Obama's re-election campaign, said, "We certainly don't want to abridge anyone's religious freedoms," and shortly afterwards, Obama announced an "accommodation" that would shift the responsibility for coverage from the employer to the employer's insurance carrier. However, if the organization self-insures or is the insurer, this still does not solve the problem, and anyone refusing to comply with this directive can be fined nearly $600,000 a year. Everyone should refuse to comply and refuse to pay the fines, as they tell Obama that he has no authority to countermand an "unalienable right" given us by Our Creator...religious freedom!
By not respecting religious choice, the Obama administration is needlessly intruding in the internal governance of religious institutes, and Pres. Obama is threatening government coercion of religious people and groups to violate their most deeply held convictions...that all life is sacred and begins at conception. This disgusting, reprehensible and detestable intrusion effectively perverts the Commerce clause and tramples the "free exercise" of religion clause, as Obama attempts to undo the U.S. Constitution. This intrusion exerts complete control over the health care system, and, in so doing, the Obama administration can control virtually every aspect of each individual American's life. Rather than health care, this intrusion concerns placing the final nail in the coffin of a free society!
by Justin O. Smith
Naturally Planned Parenthood stated that they would oppose any compromise that made employees at religious affiliated institutions pay for their own contraceptives. But Planned Parenthood regularly dispenses free contraceptives to all who ask: if this isn't enough, Walmart has a generic contraceptive that is more than adequate and only costs $9.00 a month.
Early in the controversy, Pope Benedict warned of the grave threat that this mandate represented to religious freedom, while Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York reiterated that the mandate violates Catholic Church teaching, and he fiercely argued that the mandate is "immoral and unacceptable."
Archbishop Timothy Broglio has been at the forefront of this battle, even confronting the U.S. Army. In a letter that U.S. Army Chief of Chaplains forbade Army Chaplains from reading (many read it anyway) referring to Obama as "un-American", Archbishop Broglio encouraged Catholics in the military to disobey the mandate. As the letter closed, the Archbishop wrote: "The administration has cast aside the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States denying Catholics our nation's first and most fundamental freedom, that of religious liberty. And, as a result, unless the rule is overturned, we Catholics will be compelled to choose between violating our consciences or dropping health care coverage for our employees and suffering the penalties for so doing. We cannot...and will not...comply with this unjust law."
On March 1, 2012, the Senate voted against the Blunt Amendment (S.1467, H.R. 1179) which would have amended the mandate to prevent just the sort of unconstitutional imposition currently underway. During the debate, Sen. Mitch McConnel (R) called Obama's contraception mandate "abhorrent to the foundational principles" of our nation. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R) stated, "...our Constitution demands that those individuals and institutions that object to providing these services on religious and moral grounds be protected...under this administration, our Bill of Rights has been subordinated to Pres. Obama's desire to micromanage the nation's health care system."
In a typical Democrat non sequitur argument, Sen. Patty Murray (D) stated, "The Senate will not allow women's health care choices to be taken from them." The ignorance of this statement is astounding, since no one remotely suggested women's access to health care choices should be limited; Republicans simply wished to maintain the status quo in which more than ample access to health services currently exists through secular and non-profit companies and free service providers. However, a woman who believes that she is entitled to someone else's money to fund her sex life does not have any sense of right and wrong, responsibility for herself and self-respect, and she may have the mental illness known as "liberalism", Progressive Democrat style!
Even some early supporters of Obamacare, such as Sister Carol Keehan, now think that this new rule, arbitrarily issued through HHS, goes too far. Chris Matthews of "Hardball" (MSNBC) called the rule "frightening", and Washington Post columnist E.J Dionne stated that Obama had "utterly botched" this plan.
Their Catholic affiliated hospitals offer every single women's health service from mammograms to ultrasounds to PAP smears and more, as do all other religious affiliated hospitals much like Baptist Hospital in Nashville, TN. The Catholic Diocese simply does not wish to be involved in anything that endangers a human life...and, a woman's embryo is human life!
Do not be fooled America. This controversy over contraception is the proverbial "camel's nose under the tent"; a deeper issue revolves around any expanded use of taxpayer funds for abortion. Executive order 13535 supposedly addresses this problem; however, purported solutions in this area are viewed as legally invalid by many legal experts, while the balance of 13535 is legally valid, but void of solutions. this ambiguity is not an oversight, rather this occurred with the intent to eventually require everyone, even religion affiliated organizations, to comply with government mandates on abortion. Court challenges to this executive order have already been filed by the U.S. Conference of Bishops and the Beckett Fund for Religious Liberty.
Surely women cannot believe that their desire to have sex whenever they choose supersedes the First Amendment right to religious freedom (can they?). They certainly do not have a right to force the Catholic Church to pay for their contraception against Church beliefs; they can access secular insurance companies that have no objections, or they can pay for it themselves (don't tell me that they cannot find $9.00 a month) or go through Planned Parenthood or a free clinic. Aside from this...contraception and abortion are not "rights"!
After a furor arose from so many Americans, David Axelrod, senior advisor to Obama's re-election campaign, said, "We certainly don't want to abridge anyone's religious freedoms," and shortly afterwards, Obama announced an "accommodation" that would shift the responsibility for coverage from the employer to the employer's insurance carrier. However, if the organization self-insures or is the insurer, this still does not solve the problem, and anyone refusing to comply with this directive can be fined nearly $600,000 a year. Everyone should refuse to comply and refuse to pay the fines, as they tell Obama that he has no authority to countermand an "unalienable right" given us by Our Creator...religious freedom!
By not respecting religious choice, the Obama administration is needlessly intruding in the internal governance of religious institutes, and Pres. Obama is threatening government coercion of religious people and groups to violate their most deeply held convictions...that all life is sacred and begins at conception. This disgusting, reprehensible and detestable intrusion effectively perverts the Commerce clause and tramples the "free exercise" of religion clause, as Obama attempts to undo the U.S. Constitution. This intrusion exerts complete control over the health care system, and, in so doing, the Obama administration can control virtually every aspect of each individual American's life. Rather than health care, this intrusion concerns placing the final nail in the coffin of a free society!
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