Catholic bishops ask Congress for contraceptives reprieve

[Valin]

Townhall/Reuters:

David Morgan

2/15/13

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Roman Catholic bishops stepped up their battle against President Obama's contraceptives policy on Friday by urging Congress to use its fiscal debate to free religious employers from a mandate requiring insurance coverage for birth control.

 

In a letter to all 535 members of Congress, Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore suggested two provisions to extend existing federal conscience protections to the contraceptives mandate and strengthen the ability of opponents to seek vindication in federal court.

 

"The federal government's respect for believers and people of conscience no longer measures up to the treatment Americans have a right to expect from their elected representatives," wrote Lori, who chairs the Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

 

"I urge you in the strongest terms possible to incorporate the provisions ... in the upcoming legislative proposals to fund the federal government," Lori added.

 

(Snip)