Certainly one cannot turn on the news without seeing a story about the feud over the Catholic Church’s stance on forbidding the use of contraception and Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) that mandates free contraception to women. In preparing this article, I took the time to review many articles from liberal and conservative news outlets, law professors who are experts on constitutional law, and statements from the USCCB and Bishops. Before asking questions, I want to outline the following points:
- In the literature reviewed, only two women, Sr. Carol Keehan and Sr. Mary Ann Walsh, made a statement against this policy stating that the government is interfering with the working of the Church. Most voices heard and shouting the loudest are members of the clergy.
- Hospitals considered “Catholic” hire people of all faiths and various beliefs. They also treat patients of all faiths. They are not exclusively “Catholic.”
- Catholic identified Colleges hire professors and staff that are not Catholic. Moreover, their student body is not totally Catholic.
- Catholic Charities, once again, hire non-Catholics.
- Insurance plans currently in place often offer contraception prescriptions at a zero to low co-pay price. These plans are in-force at many Catholic Institutions.
- Under HIPAA, healthcare of employees are protected and the Employer, even the Catholic Church cannot violate the privacy of the patient, even if it is an employee.
- Birth Control Pills are often prescribed for women with endome
triosis or other “female” reproductive disorders and not birth control. - Women pregnant, carrying a dead baby, cannot have surgery due to risks are given medication to induce abortion are given. Continue reading “Catholicism, Contraception, and Conscience: Church Imposed Teaching, God’s Gift of Free Will, and Political Rhetoric by Michele Stopera Freyhauf”
feminismandreligion.com 