The Obama administration refused to listen to the concerns of churches and religious groups who were affected by the Affordable Care Act, known to most Americans as Obamacare. Though President Obama initially gave reassurances to the pro-life community in November saying, “Let’s honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion, and draft a sensible conscience clause, and make sure all our health care policies are grounded not only in sound science but also in clear ethics,” his actions inevitably spoke louder than his words.
The conscience clause defined in Obamacare would exempt institutions only if they met four criteria: if their purpose is to spread religious values, if they hire people mainly of their religion, if they serve people mainly of their religion and if they are a nonprofit organization. This exemption has proven to be broad enough for the Amish, but almost no other hospital meets these requirements.
So, what does all this talk of conscience clauses and religious exemptions actually mean? Archbishop and soon-to-be Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York heads the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and said, “In effect, the president is saying we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences.”
President Obama is mandating that Catholic hospitals must provide contraception through their health care plans. In 2010, there were approximately 629 Catholic hospitals in the U.S., which had 19 million emergency room visits and over 100 million outpatient visits, according to the 2010 American Hospital Association Annual Survey. These hospitals were faced with three unsavory options: start employing and providing care solely for Catholics, violate their consciences and provide contraception or drop health coverage for their employees.
This grim situation led to two remarkable headlines in the past two weeks. Bishop Olmsted of Arizona declared that, “Unless the rule is overturned … we cannot, we will not, comply with this unjust law.” Pope Benedict XVI warned that he sees religious freedom eroding in the U.S., saying, “The loss of religious freedom is a threat not just to Christian faith, but also to humanity itself.”
I hope you are beginning to grasp the magnitude and gravity of this situation. You can say that this article is inspired by a hyperbole born out of some Christian “persecution complex.” However, I want everyone to understand that whether Obama gave the Church one year or one hundred years to figure out how to implement Obamacare, the result would always be what Bishop Olmsted has called for: civil disobedience and defying an unjust law.
I can accept that liberals, Democrats and anyone else in this country have different views on contraception; I’m not here to make the case for people against contraception. I’m writing this to decry the blatant disregard for my opinion and the opinions of millions of religious people on this issue. We can understand why Democrats would support Obamacare, but what is incomprehensible is why anyone would anyone want to force their beliefs onto other people. When last I looked, the First Amendment to the Constitution said, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
Because of Obamacare, over 750,000 employees could be out of a job, and more than 600 hospitals could be closed all because the government thought it knew better than a religion. The only thing we can do now is pray it gets repealed.
David DeStafanis is a sophomore majoring in political science.
