USCCB Responds
To Inaccurate Statement Of Fact On HHS Mandate Made During Vice Presidential
Debate
October 12,
2012
WASHINGTON—The
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued the following statement,
October 12. Full text follows:
Last night,
the following statement was made during the Vice Presidential debate regarding
the decision of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to force
virtually all employers to include sterilization and contraception, including
drugs that may cause abortion, in the health insurance coverage they provide
their employees:
[Joe Biden's debate claim]
"With
regard to the assault on the Catholic Church, let me make it absolutely clear.
No religious institution—Catholic or otherwise, including Catholic social
services, Georgetown hospital, Mercy hospital, any hospital—none has to either
refer contraception, none has to pay for contraception, none has to be a
vehicle to get contraception in any insurance policy they provide. That is a
fact. That is a fact."
This is not
a fact. The HHS mandate contains a narrow, four-part exemption for certain
"religious employers." That exemption was made final in February and
does not extend to "Catholic social services, Georgetown hospital, Mercy
hospital, any hospital," or any other religious charity that offers its
services to all, regardless of the faith of those served.
HHS has
proposed an additional "accommodation" for religious organizations
like these, which HHS itself describes as "non-exempt." That proposal
does not even potentially relieve these organizations from the obligation
"to pay for contraception" and "to be a vehicle to get
contraception." They will have to serve as a vehicle, because they will
still be forced to provide their employees with health coverage, and that coverage
will still have to include sterilization, contraception, and abortifacients.
They will have to pay for these things, because the premiums that the
organizations (and their employees) are required to pay will still be applied,
along with other funds, to cover the cost of these drugs and surgeries.
USCCB
continues to urge HHS, in the strongest possible terms, actually to eliminate
the various infringements on religious freedom imposed by the mandate.
For more
details, please see USCCB's regulatory comments filed on May 15 regarding the
proposed "accommodation": www.usccb.org/about/general-counsel/rulemaking/upload/comments-on-advance-notice-of-proposed-rulemaking-on-preventive-services-12-05-15.pdf
---
Keywords:
vice presidential debate, HHS mandate, U.S. bishops, U.S. Conference of
Catholic Bishops, insurance plans, Catholic hospitals, charities, social
services, sterilization, contraception, religious liberty, USCCB
# # # # #
MEDIA
CONTACT ONLY:
Don Clemmer
O:
202-541-3206
___________________________________
Updated for "End notes"
Sad but true, no national Left of Center news service picked up this story:
usccb.org:
___________________________________
Updated for "End notes"
Sad but true, no national Left of Center news service picked up this story:
usccb.org:
USCCB Responds To Inaccurate Statement Of Fact On HHS Mandate Made During Vice Presidential Debate — WASHINGTON—The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued the following statement, October 12. Full text follows: — Last night, the following statement was made during …
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