South Texas Catholic (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 48, No. 1, Ed. 1, January 2013 Page: 2 of 60
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Texas Gulf Coast Register/South Texas Catholic and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the UNT Libraries.
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TEXAS
CATHOLIC
CONFERENCE
Call to Action
From South Texas to Washington
Diocese of
Corpus
Christi
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops offers the following clarifications regarding
the Health and Human Services regulations on mandatory coverage of contraceptives,
sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs:
1. It does not exempt Catholic charities, schools, universities, or hospitals.
HHS does not deem them “religious employers” because they do not “serve primarily persons who
share their religious tenets.” HHS denies them religious freedom because their purpose is to serve
the common good -a purpose government should encourage.
2. It forces these institutions and others to pay for things they consider immoral.
Under the mandate, the government forces religious insurers, religious employers and schools and
religious employees and students to write, provide and purchase insurance coverage that violates
their beliefs.
3. It forces coverage of sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs as well as contraception.
HHS s mandate also forces employers to sponsor and subsidize coverage of sterilization. And by
including all contraceptive drugs, the HHS mandate includes drugs that can induce abortion, such
as “Ella,” a close cousin of the abortion pill RU-486.
4. Catholics of all political persuasions are unified in their opposition to the mandate.
Catholics who have long supported this administration and its policies have publicly criticized
HHS s decision, including college presidents Father John Jenkins and Arturo Chavez; and Sister
Carol Keehan, president and CEO of the Catholic Health Association.
5. Many other religious and secular groups have spoken out against HHS.
Many recognize this as an assault on religious liberty, even if they disagree with
the underlying moral question. Protestant and, Orthodox Christian and
Orthodox Jewish groups -none of which oppose contraception - are against the
HHS s decision. The Washington Post, USA Today, N. Y Daily News and other
secular outlets have editorialized against it.
6. The federal mandate is much stricter than existing state mandates.
Even without an exemption, religious employers now can avoid contraceptive
mandates in 28 states by self-insuring their drug coverage, dropping that
coverage, or opting for regulation under a pre-emptive federal law. This mandate
closes off these avenues of relief.
Make your voice heard | Contact your representatives
ACTION:
Contact your U.S. Representative
by e-mail, phone, or FAX letter:
• Call the U.S. Capitol
switchboard at: (202) 224-3121,
or call your Members’ local
offices.
• Send an e-mail through
NCHLA’s Grassroots Action
Center at www.nchla.org
• Additional contact info can be
found on Members’ web sites at:
house.gov and senate.gov.
MESSAGE:
“Please co-sponsor the Respect
for Rights of Conscience Act
(H.R. 1179, s. 1467) and help
enact it into law. The Obama
administration’s decision to
mandate coverage of sterilization
and contraceptives, including
drugs that can cause an abortion,
makes passage of this measure
especially urgent. Please ensure
that the rights of conscience of
all participants in our nation’s
health care system are respected.”
WHEN:
Now is the time to build
co-sponsors and support. Please
act today!
President Barack Obama
Mail: The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW,
Washington, D.C. 20500
Phone: (202) 225-3484
Website: www.whitehouse.gov
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison
Mail: 284 Russell Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: (214) 361-3500
or (202) 224-5922
Website: www.hutchison.senate.gov
Rep. Ron Paul
14th District: Aransas
Mail: 2203 Cannon House Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20515
Phone Number: (202) 225-2831
Website: www.paul.house.gov
n
l!
Sen. John Cornyn
Mail: 517 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
Washington D.C. 20510
Phone: (972) 239-1310
or (202) 224-2934
Website: www.cornyn.senate.gov
Rep. Blake Farenthold
27th District: Nueces, Kleberg, Kenedy
Mail: 2110 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-7742
Website: www.farenthold.house.gov
Rep. Ruben Hinojosa
15th District: Bee, Brooks, Duval,
Jim Wells, Live Oak, Refugio, San Patricio
Mail: 2262 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-2531
Website: www.hinojosa.house.gov
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Patroness of the Americas
Pray for Us
O God our Creator,
from your provident hand we have received
our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
You have called us as your people and given us
the right and the duty to worship you, the only true God,
and your Son, Jesus Christ.
Through the power and working of your Holy Spirit,
you call us to live out our faith in the midst of the world,
bringing the light and the saving truth of the Gospel
to every corner of society.
We ask you to bless us
in our vigilance for the gift of religious liberty.
Give us the strength of mind and heart
to readily defend our freedoms when they are threatened;
give us courage in making our voices heard
on behalf of the rights of your Church
and the freedom of conscience of all people of faith.
Grant, we pray, O heavenly Father,
a clear and united voice to all your sons and daughters
gathered in your Church
in this decisive hour in the history of our nation,
so that, with every trial withstood
and every danger overcome—
for the sake of our children, our grandchildren,
and all who come after us—
this great land will always be “one nation, under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
2 SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC | JANUARY 2013
www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
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Cardenas, Alfredo E. South Texas Catholic (Corpus Christi, Tex.), Vol. 48, No. 1, Ed. 1, January 2013, newspaper, January 2013; Corpus Christi, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth855869/m1/2/?q=%22%22~1: accessed June 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .