{"id":639,"date":"2012-02-20T14:50:38","date_gmt":"2012-02-20T22:50:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=639"},"modified":"2018-03-09T10:08:00","modified_gmt":"2018-03-09T18:08:00","slug":"a-correction-and-qualifications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=639","title":{"rendered":"A correction and qualifications"},"content":{"rendered":"

Letter to the Editor<\/strong>
\nThe BC Catholic<\/a> <\/em>
\nVancouver, B.C. Canada<\/p>\n

20 February, 2012<\/p>\n

Sean Murphy, Administrator
\nProtection of Conscience Project<\/p>\n

A correction and some qualifications are in order with respect to the article by Deborah Gyapong about the contraception insurance controversy in the United States (\u201cA Canadian debate over contraception is unlikely<\/a>,\u201d BC Catholic, 20 February, 2012).<\/p>\n

In the first place, Mr. Roche of the Catholic Health Association of Canada<\/a> is mistaken in his assertion that Catholic hospitals in Canada cannot be compelled to do things contrary to Catholic teaching. In 2006, St. Elizabeth\u2019s Hospital in Humboldt, Saskatchewan, operated by the Saskatchewan Catholic Health Association, decided to stop doing contraceptive sterilizations. Public protests resulted, and a woman denied a tubal ligation filed a human rights complaint. In June, 2007, St. Elizabeth\u2019s was transferred to the Saskatoon Health Region and re-named the Humboldt District Hospital. Three months later, the Saskatchewan Catholic Health Corporation agreed to pay almost $8,000.00 to the complainant in the human rights action to settle the case.1<\/a> It would be most unwise to think that this kind of thing could not happen again.<\/p>\n

Concerning the situation in the United States, it is true that the Catholic bishops, in a remarkable display of unanimity, have been vocal in protesting the demand to provide insurance coverage for surgical sterilization, contraceptives and potentially embryocidal or abortifacient drugs or devices. Many of them have said that they will refuse to comply with the law. It does not appear that they share Mr. Roche\u2019s view that an emphasis on Catholic identity may be counterproductive with respect to the mission of Catholic health care. Nor do they seem to think that Catholic identity and Catholic mission are in conflict with each other, though they may well be in conflict with dominant social norms – as the example of what used to be St. Elizabeth\u2019s Hospital demonstrates.<\/p>\n

The prominence of the Catholic response notwithstanding, this is not a \u2018Catholic\u2019 issue. Strong protests have also been made by Jewish groups, Southern Baptists, Lutherans and Evangelical Christians. Colorado Christian University<\/a>, a non-Catholic institution, filed suit months ago against the U.S.\u00a0 federal government because of this mandate.2<\/a> Two more lawsuits have just been filed by Southern Baptist and Reformed Presbyterian colleges.3<\/a> And former governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee. recently declared that the response to the Obama administration\u2019s mandate reminded him of President John F. Kennedy’s statement to the people of Berlin after the erection of the Berlin Wall: “Ich bin ein Berliner\u201d (I am a Berliner). Huckabee, a Baptist , said, “In many ways, thanks to President Obama, we’re all Catholics now.”4<\/a><\/p>\n

Testifying before a committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, Rabbi Meir Soloveichik warned that \u201cnot only does the new regulation threaten religious liberty in the narrow sense, in requiring Catholic communities to violate their religious tenets, but also the administration impedes religious liberty by unilaterally redefining what it means to be religious.\u201d5<\/a><\/p>\n

So this is not a \u2018Catholic\u2019 issue. Nor is it about women, or health, or birth control or contraception, as Dr. Laura Champion told the same committee. As the Director of Health Services at Calvin College<\/a> in Michigan, she explained that the College has no objections to contraception, but she was emphatic that the morning after pill is not the same as cancer screening or vaccinations. \u201cPregnancy is not a disease,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is a premise that I reject both religiously and medically.\u201d6<\/a><\/p>\n

Finally, the BC Catholic story states that the Catholic Health Association of the United States<\/a> \u201cdecided on \u2018a cautious acceptance\u2019 of the compromise.\u201d However, the actual wording of the newly published regulation is exactly the same as the wording that launched the firestorm of protest in late January.7<\/a> The administration\u2019s promises have no legal significance, and, in any case, will not be fulfilled before the November presidential election. The description of the scheme as a \u2018compromise\u2019 thus seems premature.<\/p>\n

Notes:<\/h3>\n

<\/a>1.\u00a0 CBC News,<\/em> 13 September, 2007, \u201cWoman given settlement after being denied tubal ligation.\u201d<\/a>(Accessed 2012-02-20)<\/p>\n

<\/a>2.\u00a0 To see a graphic illustration of the resistance to the HHS mandate, see the interactive map.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>3.\u00a0 Alliance Defence Fund news releases, 20 February, 2012 : “ADF, Louisianna College challenge Obama Mandate<\/a>“; “ADF, Geneva College to reveal lawsuit against Obama mandate Tuesday<\/a>” (Accessed 2012-02-20)<\/p>\n

<\/a>4 \u201cMike Huckabee\u2019s Full Speech at CPAC 2012.\u201d<\/a> ABC News<\/em>, 10 February, 2012 (Accessed 2012-02-20)<\/p>\n

<\/a>5.\u00a0\u00a0 Lines Crossed: Separation of Church and State. Has the Obama Administration Trampled on Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Conscience? US House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform,16 February, 2012: Testimony of Rabbi Meir Soloveichik<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>6.\u00a0 Lines Crossed: Separation of Church and State. Has the Obama Administration Trampled on Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Conscience? US House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform,16 February, 2012: Testimony of Laura Champion, MD.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>7.\u00a0 PART 147\u2014Health Insurance Reform Requirements for the Group and Individual Health Insurance Markets \u00a7 147.130 Coverage of preventive health services. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Letter to the Editor The BC Catholic Vancouver, B.C. Canada 20 February, 2012 Sean Murphy, Administrator Protection of Conscience Project A correction and some qualifications are in order with respect to the article by Deborah Gyapong about the contraception insurance controversy in the United States (\u201cA Canadian debate over contraception is unlikely,\u201d BC Catholic, 20 … Continue reading “A correction and qualifications”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5432,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,643,2056,287,334],"tags":[3315,183,187,314,317],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-canada","category-christianity-catholicism","category-letters","category-protection-of-conscience-project","category-sterilization","tag-catholic-health-association-canada","tag-hhs-preventive-services-mandate","tag-human-rights","tag-saskatchewan","tag-sean-murphy"],"yoast_head":"\r\nA correction and qualifications - Protection of Conscience Project News<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=639\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A correction and qualifications - Protection of Conscience Project News\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Letter to the Editor The BC Catholic Vancouver, B.C. 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