The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently announced that religious employers will be required to provide health care plans that include coverage of sterilization, contraceptives, and abortifacients. Catholic schools, hospitals, and charities are not exempt from this mandate.  This violation of religious liberty is unconscionable and unnecessary. 

The Administration has issued a notice proposing additional rulemaking on how the HHS mandate can be applied to religious organizations. The fundamental legal and moral concerns about government intrusion into religious ministries are not addressed. Whatever funding and administrative mechanisms are ultimately chosen, many deeply religious institutions that serve the common good will be forbidden to provide their own employees or students with health coverage consistent with their values. Click here to urge HHS to ensure that organizations and individuals are not compelled to offer, sponsor and obtain health coverage that violates their moral and religious convictions. (Alert is from the National Committee for a Human Life Amendment)

To find your U.S. Representative and send a message asking him/her to co-sponsor the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act, click here.

To continue to receive up-to-date news on this issue, subscribe to our Texas Catholic Voice e-newsletter and action alerts here. You can also view the Texas Bishops’ responses to this issue on our HHS Mandate resource list below.

Please continue to pray for our elected officials, that they will work to ensure that our First Amendment right to religious freedom is upheld and that all human life is protected. Prayer resources, including prayer cards and bulletin inserts, are available from the USCCB online here.

For more information, visit www.USCCB.org/conscience.