Senator Roy Blunt, who sponsored the amendment in the Senate that, had it received a few more votes, would have protected conscience rights of employers, said, “This is a debate that might be settled at that building across the street,” referring to the Supreme Court. Indeed, as of this writing, eight different lawsuits have been […]
Watching how Great Britain deals with the ethical issues surrounding health care is instructive for a few important reasons. First, we both have a Judeo-Christian foundation to our cultures; we have inherited much of our legal system from theirs; they introduced socialized medicine over sixty years ago, and finally, they legalized abortion six years before […]
By now, most Catholics are aware of the impending HHS mandate the Obama Administration will be imposing upon faith-based organizations, requiring them to pay — through insurance companies — for contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs. If they choose to not pay, a fine will be imposed per employee, which could cost institutions like the Catholic Church millions […]
The great English writer G.K. Chesterton once wrote: “The family is the test of freedom; because the family is the only thing that the free man makes for himself and by himself.” But if what Chesterton says is true, then Canada fails the test, because the Canadian family is no longer free. In the past […]
Seven states filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration today seeking to overturn the mandate that religious employers provide contraception, sterilization, and abortifacients to their employees as part of their health care plans. The state attorneys general of Florida, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas filed suit today in U.S. District Court, arguing […]
Today, religious liberty gained a resounding victory. A federal court in Tacoma, Washington, struck down a Washington law that requires pharmacists to dispense the morning-after pill even when doing so would violate their religious beliefs. The court held that the law violates the First Amendment right to free exercise of religion. “Today’s decision sends a […]
A very conscientious Catholic, Harold Baumeister, saw this cartoon in his hometown paper and had the conviction and gumption to do something about it! He wrote to the editor (letter follows) to let him know that he was deeply offended by this crass cartoon and that the pope and all Catholics will fight to defend our freedoms. […]
No attempt to defend the constitutionality of the mandate On Thursday, the Obama administration filed its first legal response to Belmont Abbey College’s lawsuit challenging the controversial contraception mandate. This was its first opportunity to explain to the court and the country why the mandate is not illegal and unconstitutional. So what did the administration […]
No one can be rightly coerced by the state to be directly complicit in the commission of a wrong. This goes for any businessman, employer, insurance company, or individual, regardless of faith. After three weeks of outcry from religious leaders regarding its Health and Human Services contraception insurance mandate, the Obama administration announced a “compromise” […]
On January 31st 2012, the third section of the European Court of Human Rights issued a judgment in the case of Sindicatul Pastorul cel bun c. Roumanie (no. 2330/09) whereby it determined that the refusal to register a trade union established within the Orthodox Church was contrary to freedom of association guaranteed by Article 11 […]
Obama and Sebelius sittin’ in a tree K-i-s-s-i-n-g First comes sex without marriages Then come empty baby carriages The teasing little rhyming ditty familiar to children for generations, of which the above is a parody, bespeaks that even children know something very fundamental about the natural and right order of things – that first comes […]
In response to President Obama’s announcement of a government compromise over the new controversial mandate requiring employers to pay for abortion-causing drugs and other services, over 300 academics have signed a statement entitled: “Unacceptable.” “This is a grave violation of religious freedom and cannot stand,” state the scholars. “It is an insult to the intelligence […]
Al Mohler absolutely dismantles Nicholas Kristof in this new piece. The cause of this skewering? Kristof’s “Beyond Pelvic Politics” column in The New York Times. Mohler notes, After asking his most pressing question, “After all, do we really want to make accommodations across the range of faith?,” he makes this amazing statement: “The basic principle of American life is that we […]
Perhaps the title is a bit alarmist. The decision by the state legislature to redefine marriage may not actually be the death of reason, but more evidence of it. What’s interesting is that a body of legislators who have, presumably, told their own children that “I want it” is not sufficient reason, have been completely bamboozled […]
Resistance to a new bill aimed at limiting foreign law in Pennsylvania courts serves as a case study of how Islamists and their allies operate: peddling falsehoods about Shari’a, painting Muslims as victims, and denying that anyone seeks to institutionalize aspects of Islamic law — even as they vigorously promote that very agenda. With similar […]
I’ve gotten some very interesting emails regarding President Obama’s mandate commanding Roman Catholics (and many evangelical Protestants) to violate their consciences by providing mandatory contraception, sterilization, and abortion-inducing pharmaceuticals. The emailers noted that Obama’s action will force Catholics to challenge the president in court, particularly given that bishops are saying they will not comply with […]
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has acted to reverse the democratic decision of the people of California to confine marriage to its traditional parameters of a man and a woman. In making this decision, the court decided that it could overturn the will of the people of California on the basis of what is […]
A quiet, closed-door meeting in Washington next month will be of crucial importance in shaping the Church’s response to the nation’s biggest church-state crisis in decades. When some 40 bishops of the administrative committee of the national bishops’ conference gather March 14-15 at conference headquarters, they’ll be looking at the Obama administration’s January mandate to […]
Certainly by now you’ve heard that the present Administration, through the Health and Human Services Department, is mandating that all employer healthcare insurance plans provide coverage for procedures which violate the beliefs of the Catholic Church, and Catholic institutions. Basically, the new rules require the Church, and the institutions operating faithfully under the aegis of […]
Sometimes, an outside force attacks the Catholic Church in such a way that it creates a swathe of very public unity amongst Catholics. These attacks are rare in this country. However, the Obama administration, with the inexplicable boorish tenacity we’ve come to expect from them, has truly risen to the occasion. Back in December, PRI […]
This morning, a panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled by a 2-1 vote that a California constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman is unconstitutional. In an 89-page ruling that cited William Shakespeare and Marilyn Monroe, Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote, “Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and […]
I am here today to address those of you who have already made up your minds to redefine marriage. History will not be kind to you. Previous generations of social experimenters have caused unimaginable misery for millions of people. Particular people advocated the policies that led to today’s 50% divorce rate and 40% out of […]
Humor me for a moment and just imagine if the following purely fictional (at least as of this writing) HHS press release was issued: Affordable Care Act Ensures Elders Receive End-of-Life Services at No Additional Cost WASHINGTON—The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced today that it is adopting additional Guidelines for Elder Care […]
The big Catholic news item in the United States these days centers around the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate requiring nearly all employers to offer health insurance plans that provide zero-deductible coverage for “preventative services” like sterilization and contraception, including drugs that cause abortion. When the mandate was first proposed, the United […]
