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Catholic bishops cry wolf on contraception
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Alan Ferris
Feb 10, 2012, 3:43:51 AM2/10/12
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Catholic bishops cry wolf on contraception
Bill Press
Tribune Media Services
February 9, 2012
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/sns-201202091600--tms--bpresstt--m-a20120209feb09,0,6652048.column
I love protests, and have taken part in many of them. My first was
picketing in front of Safeway in San Francisco, urging shoppers to
support California farm workers and boycott grapes.
But there are real protests and there are phony protests. And one of
the phoniest we've ever seen is today's protest by Catholic bishops
against the Obama administration's new rules on insurance coverage of
contraception.
Judging from the cries of outrage coming from the Catholic hierarchy,
you'd think President Obama had shut down Catholic churches, defrocked
all priests, sent nuns back to Ireland, and dropped an atomic bomb on
the Vatican. On every cable news or talk radio show, Obama's accused
of trampling on the First Amendment, declaring war on religion,
destroying religious freedom and, of course, Catholic-bashing.
Nonsense. Here's the truth. On January 20, the Health and Human
Services Agency, under Secretary Kathleen Sibelius, issued a new rule
that insurance policies, as part of their basic package, must offer
contraceptive services with no deductible or co-pay. An exception was
made for 335,000 churches, missions, or other places of worship where
all employees were Catholic or members of any religion which opposed
contraception as a matter of faith.
Note: The new ruling does not require Catholic hospitals or clinics to
provide birth control pills or devices. It does not force Catholics to
practice contraception. It does not interfere with anyone's religion.
It does not prevent priests and bishops from continuing their
appalling medieval and widely ignored attempts to convince Catholics
that contraception is sinful. It simply says that there can no longer
be two kinds of health insurance policies: those that cover
contraception and those that don't. All women deserve access to the
same health protection. It's up to the individual woman to decide
whether to practice contraception or not.
What makes this whole debate so appalling is that, in raising holy
hell against Obama, Catholic bishops are being dishonest. They accuse
the president of infringing on religious liberty. Yet they fail to
acknowledge, for example, that not everybody who works in a Catholic
hospital or university is a Catholic -- and should not, therefore, be
bound by narrow Catholic attitudes toward sex.
Listening to the bishops squeal, you'd also never know that, long
before the Obama administration acted, 28 states -- including Mitt
Romney's home state of Massachusetts and Newt Gingrich's home state of
Georgia -- had already adopted regulations requiring contraception
coverage without co-pay. Eight of those states, by the way, don't even
provide an opt-out provision for churches. And you'd certainly never
know that many leading Catholic universities -- including Catholic
University, America's biggest Catholic university -- include free
contraception coverage as part of their basic health insurance for all
employees.
Let's face it. Here's what's really going on. Ever since Pope Paul VI
condemned contraception in his 1968 encyclical letter entitled Humanae
Vitae: On the Regulation of Birth, the Catholic Church has been
fighting a losing battle. Today, even though the Church is officially
against it, 98 percent of Catholic women who are sexually active say
they practice some form of birth control, this according to a new
report from the Guttmacher Institute. So now, by demanding government
permission to deny contraception coverage in their own health plans,
what Catholic bishops are really trying to do is get President Obama
to deliver where they have failed. And that's not his job. His
priority is to protect women's health, not to enforce some outdated,
anachronistic and unrealistic policy of an out-of-touch, celibate
Catholic hierarchy.
And that's the real issue. Not Catholic teaching. Not religious
freedom. But women's health. Guttmacher found that 58 percent of women
who use birth control do so, not just to prevent pregnancy, but for
other important health reasons, like reducing the risk of ovarian
cancer or treating uterine fibroid tumors and anemia.
As a former Catholic seminarian, what I don't understand is the
bishops' obsession with sex. Yes, the Church is (wrongly) against
contraception. But the Church is also against the death penalty. Why
don't the bishops raise a stink about that? And the Church was opposed
to the Iraq war. Why didn't they condemn George W. Bush for bombing a
country that did not attack us first? Why do they only get their
episcopal panties in a twist when it comes to sex?
No, this is not a case of President Obama trying to interfere with
religious freedom. This is a case of Catholic bishops trying to force
their narrow views about sex on everybody else.
--
Ferrit
()'.'.'()
( (T) )
( ) . ( )
(")_(")
Bill Press
Tribune Media Services
February 9, 2012
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/sns-201202091600--tms--bpresstt--m-a20120209feb09,0,6652048.column
I love protests, and have taken part in many of them. My first was
picketing in front of Safeway in San Francisco, urging shoppers to
support California farm workers and boycott grapes.
But there are real protests and there are phony protests. And one of
the phoniest we've ever seen is today's protest by Catholic bishops
against the Obama administration's new rules on insurance coverage of
contraception.
Judging from the cries of outrage coming from the Catholic hierarchy,
you'd think President Obama had shut down Catholic churches, defrocked
all priests, sent nuns back to Ireland, and dropped an atomic bomb on
the Vatican. On every cable news or talk radio show, Obama's accused
of trampling on the First Amendment, declaring war on religion,
destroying religious freedom and, of course, Catholic-bashing.
Nonsense. Here's the truth. On January 20, the Health and Human
Services Agency, under Secretary Kathleen Sibelius, issued a new rule
that insurance policies, as part of their basic package, must offer
contraceptive services with no deductible or co-pay. An exception was
made for 335,000 churches, missions, or other places of worship where
all employees were Catholic or members of any religion which opposed
contraception as a matter of faith.
Note: The new ruling does not require Catholic hospitals or clinics to
provide birth control pills or devices. It does not force Catholics to
practice contraception. It does not interfere with anyone's religion.
It does not prevent priests and bishops from continuing their
appalling medieval and widely ignored attempts to convince Catholics
that contraception is sinful. It simply says that there can no longer
be two kinds of health insurance policies: those that cover
contraception and those that don't. All women deserve access to the
same health protection. It's up to the individual woman to decide
whether to practice contraception or not.
What makes this whole debate so appalling is that, in raising holy
hell against Obama, Catholic bishops are being dishonest. They accuse
the president of infringing on religious liberty. Yet they fail to
acknowledge, for example, that not everybody who works in a Catholic
hospital or university is a Catholic -- and should not, therefore, be
bound by narrow Catholic attitudes toward sex.
Listening to the bishops squeal, you'd also never know that, long
before the Obama administration acted, 28 states -- including Mitt
Romney's home state of Massachusetts and Newt Gingrich's home state of
Georgia -- had already adopted regulations requiring contraception
coverage without co-pay. Eight of those states, by the way, don't even
provide an opt-out provision for churches. And you'd certainly never
know that many leading Catholic universities -- including Catholic
University, America's biggest Catholic university -- include free
contraception coverage as part of their basic health insurance for all
employees.
Let's face it. Here's what's really going on. Ever since Pope Paul VI
condemned contraception in his 1968 encyclical letter entitled Humanae
Vitae: On the Regulation of Birth, the Catholic Church has been
fighting a losing battle. Today, even though the Church is officially
against it, 98 percent of Catholic women who are sexually active say
they practice some form of birth control, this according to a new
report from the Guttmacher Institute. So now, by demanding government
permission to deny contraception coverage in their own health plans,
what Catholic bishops are really trying to do is get President Obama
to deliver where they have failed. And that's not his job. His
priority is to protect women's health, not to enforce some outdated,
anachronistic and unrealistic policy of an out-of-touch, celibate
Catholic hierarchy.
And that's the real issue. Not Catholic teaching. Not religious
freedom. But women's health. Guttmacher found that 58 percent of women
who use birth control do so, not just to prevent pregnancy, but for
other important health reasons, like reducing the risk of ovarian
cancer or treating uterine fibroid tumors and anemia.
As a former Catholic seminarian, what I don't understand is the
bishops' obsession with sex. Yes, the Church is (wrongly) against
contraception. But the Church is also against the death penalty. Why
don't the bishops raise a stink about that? And the Church was opposed
to the Iraq war. Why didn't they condemn George W. Bush for bombing a
country that did not attack us first? Why do they only get their
episcopal panties in a twist when it comes to sex?
No, this is not a case of President Obama trying to interfere with
religious freedom. This is a case of Catholic bishops trying to force
their narrow views about sex on everybody else.
--
Ferrit
()'.'.'()
( (T) )
( ) . ( )
(")_(")
Alvin York
Feb 10, 2012, 4:20:55 AM2/10/12
to
I was an avid listener of EWTN and had become quite interested in the
Catholic Church teachings until suddenly all at one time almost every
Catholic broadcast became a diatribe of
debasement against Barrack Obama for "allowing abortion". I am
anti-abortion and I donot blame Barrack Obama for it. Perhaps someday he
can somehow help persuade more Catholics and others to stop using it.
The actual catalyst for all this appeared to be a decision by Susan G.
Komen Foundation to quit financing breast cancer mamograms through the
Planned Parenthood Program because amongst their many and diverse
assistance for the poor includes "abortion advice and referral".
The Bishops suddenly came out in unison with a ubiquitous message that
all Catholics must here-to-fore support the Republican Party which has
long held open abortion as a wedge issue to be brought up over and over
again as a wedge issue to unite Catholics. But few Catholics have
listened to these diatribes now or in the past with 54% of all Catholics
voting for Barrack Obama in 2008.
Would the Catholic Church not issue an injunction against the Old
Testament if they were being genuine about these present issues? The Old
Testament teaches examples of incest, human child and animal sacrifice,
rape, murder, sodomy, pedophilia and murder. But the Catholic Church
preaches that the Old Testament is quite an integral part of our
spiritual journey and urges us to integrate into all of our beliefs and
embrace it. On the contrary many Churches teach that the New Testament
is the New Law which we are to follow and they cite plenty of Biblical
statements from the New Testament to support this.
What has happened to the Catholic Church which has just recently lost
St. John Paul II who taught that all murder was evil and that the human
rights of all people on Earth must take precedence over technology and
secular politics.
Why is the Catholic Church trying to defeat the woe-fully inadequae
Obama Care System and NOT advocating for universal medical care instead?
Me thinks is coming down from the Vatican itself as the New Pope
Benedict has the Bishops tap dancing like puppets on a stage to support
secular Conservative causes.
Catholic Church teachings until suddenly all at one time almost every
Catholic broadcast became a diatribe of
debasement against Barrack Obama for "allowing abortion". I am
anti-abortion and I donot blame Barrack Obama for it. Perhaps someday he
can somehow help persuade more Catholics and others to stop using it.
The actual catalyst for all this appeared to be a decision by Susan G.
Komen Foundation to quit financing breast cancer mamograms through the
Planned Parenthood Program because amongst their many and diverse
assistance for the poor includes "abortion advice and referral".
The Bishops suddenly came out in unison with a ubiquitous message that
all Catholics must here-to-fore support the Republican Party which has
long held open abortion as a wedge issue to be brought up over and over
again as a wedge issue to unite Catholics. But few Catholics have
listened to these diatribes now or in the past with 54% of all Catholics
voting for Barrack Obama in 2008.
Would the Catholic Church not issue an injunction against the Old
Testament if they were being genuine about these present issues? The Old
Testament teaches examples of incest, human child and animal sacrifice,
rape, murder, sodomy, pedophilia and murder. But the Catholic Church
preaches that the Old Testament is quite an integral part of our
spiritual journey and urges us to integrate into all of our beliefs and
embrace it. On the contrary many Churches teach that the New Testament
is the New Law which we are to follow and they cite plenty of Biblical
statements from the New Testament to support this.
What has happened to the Catholic Church which has just recently lost
St. John Paul II who taught that all murder was evil and that the human
rights of all people on Earth must take precedence over technology and
secular politics.
Why is the Catholic Church trying to defeat the woe-fully inadequae
Obama Care System and NOT advocating for universal medical care instead?
Me thinks is coming down from the Vatican itself as the New Pope
Benedict has the Bishops tap dancing like puppets on a stage to support
secular Conservative causes.
duke
Feb 10, 2012, 7:42:09 AM2/10/12
to
On Fri, 10 Feb 2012 01:20:55 -0800, alvi...@webtv.net (Alvin York) wrote:
>I was an avid listener of EWTN and had become quite interested in the
>Catholic Church teachings until suddenly all at one time almost every
>Catholic broadcast became a diatribe of
>debasement against Barrack Obama for "allowing abortion". I am
>anti-abortion and I donot blame Barrack Obama for it. Perhaps someday he
>can somehow help persuade more Catholics and others to stop using it.
>
>The actual catalyst for all this appeared to be a decision by Susan G.
>Komen Foundation to quit financing breast cancer mamograms through the
>Planned Parenthood Program because amongst their many and diverse
>assistance for the poor includes "abortion advice and referral".
>The Bishops suddenly came out in unison with a ubiquitous message that
>all Catholics must here-to-fore support the Republican Party which has
>long held open abortion as a wedge issue to be brought up over and over
>again as a wedge issue to unite Catholics.
Buckwheat was the first to ignore the 1st Ammendment and the government not
>I was an avid listener of EWTN and had become quite interested in the
>Catholic Church teachings until suddenly all at one time almost every
>Catholic broadcast became a diatribe of
>debasement against Barrack Obama for "allowing abortion". I am
>anti-abortion and I donot blame Barrack Obama for it. Perhaps someday he
>can somehow help persuade more Catholics and others to stop using it.
>
>The actual catalyst for all this appeared to be a decision by Susan G.
>Komen Foundation to quit financing breast cancer mamograms through the
>Planned Parenthood Program because amongst their many and diverse
>assistance for the poor includes "abortion advice and referral".
>The Bishops suddenly came out in unison with a ubiquitous message that
>all Catholics must here-to-fore support the Republican Party which has
>long held open abortion as a wedge issue to be brought up over and over
>again as a wedge issue to unite Catholics.
interfering with the free exercise of religious faith.
duke, American - American
*****
1 John 3:4-6
4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact,
sin is lawlessness. 5 But you know that he
appeared so that he might take away our sins.
And in him is no sin. 6 No one who lives in
him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to
sin has either seen him or known him.
*****
W.T.S.
Feb 10, 2012, 11:17:52 AM2/10/12
to
In article <c6m9j75cgjsq5fu84...@4ax.com>,
hairy....@yahoo.co.uk says...
Excellent points, thanks.
Abortion and sterilization, they save the lives, health and futures of
women and men alike!
>
http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/print/14481
>
http://www.jennyjerrome.org/
>
http://tinyurl.com/3j3fkch
>
http://www.egalitarian.biz/Plan-B--Remedy-of-a-Lifetime.html
>
http://www.thelizlibrary.org/liz/004.htm
>
Breed like rabbits, live like pigs!
>
Modern Christian: Someone who can take time out from
complaining about "welfare mothers popping out babies we
have to feed" to complain about welfare mothers getting
abortions that PREVENT more babies to be raised at public
expense.
hairy....@yahoo.co.uk says...
Abortion and sterilization, they save the lives, health and futures of
women and men alike!
>
http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/print/14481
>
http://www.jennyjerrome.org/
>
http://tinyurl.com/3j3fkch
>
http://www.egalitarian.biz/Plan-B--Remedy-of-a-Lifetime.html
>
http://www.thelizlibrary.org/liz/004.htm
>
Breed like rabbits, live like pigs!
>
Modern Christian: Someone who can take time out from
complaining about "welfare mothers popping out babies we
have to feed" to complain about welfare mothers getting
abortions that PREVENT more babies to be raised at public
expense.
W.T.S.
Feb 10, 2012, 2:55:36 PM2/10/12
to
W.T.S.
Feb 10, 2012, 3:46:46 PM2/10/12
to
In article <v3m9j75kga06roi3h...@4ax.com>,
hairy....@yahoo.co.uk says...
Very good points, thanks!
hairy....@yahoo.co.uk says...
>
> Catholic bishops cry wolf on contraception
> Bill Press
> Tribune Media Services
> February 9, 2012
> http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/sns-201202091600--tms--bpresstt--m-a20120209feb09,0,6652048.column
>
http://tinyurl.com/8x6j9ao
> Catholic bishops cry wolf on contraception
> Bill Press
> Tribune Media Services
> February 9, 2012
> http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/sns-201202091600--tms--bpresstt--m-a20120209feb09,0,6652048.column
>
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