David Ancell / Wednesday June 13, 2012
By now, readers of this blog are probably familiar with the new Health and Human Services Mandate that requires almost every employer to provide free contraception and abortifacients with their health insurance plans. Our opponents have painted this as a women’s rights issue despite the fact that any objective through process would show that contraception is not a necessity for anyone. The Church is even portrayed as trying to force people to give up contraception when, in fact, this is really about the government forcing the Church to pay for it.
Lately, I’ve seen posts on the web, including a cartoon, mocking the idea that our religious freedom is under attack. One post mentioned a congregation whose church was burned down in another country. Another cartoon depicted Jesus mocking us by saying that he needed to visit a minister in another country who is in jail and/or is being executed for preaching the Gospel.
Those extremes do seem unlikely in the US . . . at least for now. However, has anyone figured out the implications if this mandate is not overturned? No Catholic institution that is truly Catholic will pay for contraception. It’s not only an act that is sinful under all circumstances, but it’s grave matter (meaning it’s a mortal sin if done knowingly and willingly). No doubt these organizations will all face fines, and you can imagine the financial impact this will have on organizations that do charitable work, publish Catholic books, or take the Gospel to the airwaves (e.g. EWTN).
Some may have to close down, leaving one less voice to teach the Catholic faith. Others may refuse the pay the fine and face jail time or other penalties. The question arises as to how much we will condone before we realize that our government has gone too far. By then, a lot of damage will have been done. We really need to take this seriously now. Don’t let those people who are mocking us stop you. We do have genuine cause to be concerned here at home.
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