Religious Freedom?
Catechism of the Catholic Church Para. 2399: The regulation of births represents one of the aspects of responsible fatherhood and motherhood. Legitimate intentions on the part of the spouses do not justify recourse to morally unacceptable means (for example, direct sterilization or contraception).
CCC, Para 2370 (in part, form Humanae Vitae): "every action which, whether in anticipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible" is intrinsically evil.
Above you find two excerpts from the Catechism of the Catholic Church which, as a whole, represents the definitive position of the Church’s Magisterium on matters of faith and morals. As such it is not only authoritative teaching, it is the very teaching of Jesus himself. All Catholics are bound by its dictates through operation of both their baptismal promises and the obedience of faith. There is no doubt on this teaching; no gray areas whatsoever. The fact that many Catholic married couples do not follow (or even understand) the teaching is not the point. It remains the teaching of Jesus Christ, and you and I are both obligated to teach it and abide by its authority. As such, the Catholic teaching on contraception is an intrinsic and material part of our faith tradition and of how we seek to live out our religion in our daily lives. Failure rates, human weakness, dissension and rebellion change none of this. Moreover, since this teaching is based on the Catholic interpretation of ‘natural law,’ it is our belief that it morally applies to each and every human being, whether they are Catholic or not. For that reason, we could not possibly provide such coverage to anyone and remain true to our faith.
On January 20th of this year, the Obama administration refused to weaken existing rules that will require most health insurance plans to offer women prescription contraceptives at no additional out-of-pocket cost. To begin with, churches are exempt. This means that the Archdiocesan health insurance plan, under which parish staff and priests are covered, does not have to offer such coverage. Hurray! The problem arises with respect to other so-called “non-religious” Catholic organizations such as religious-based hospitals, universities and charities. Apparently, religious based institutions of this type are not close enough in their mission to religious purposes to warrant such an exemption.
The President’s Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius defended the decision, saying: “I believe this proposal strikes the appropriate balance between respecting religious freedom and increasing access to important preventive services.” Here we find the crux of the issue; progressives in our culture see such services as ‘important’ to the extent that they constitute basic human rights. In other contexts, both the United States and the United Nations have insisted that access to contraception constitutes a basic human freedom. They have extended the same thinking to gay marriage, abortion and euthanasia. Thinking of this sort acts as a wedge whereby actions gravely contrary to religious belief can be foisted on or even required of religious institutions in the name of ‘basic human rights.’
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops sees this issue far more clearly; as its president Archbishop Timothy Dolan stated in his reaction to the Obama administration’s decision: “To force American citizens to choose between violating their consciences and forgoing their healthcare is literally unconscionable … it is as much an attack on access to health care as on religious freedom.” The decision gave the Church an additional year to, as the Archbishop acidly put it, “figure out how to violate our consciences.”
Incredibly, such organizations as Planned Parenthood and the ACLU, which are forever trumpeting the rights of ‘human choice’ as an intrinsic part of the dignity and respect of persons, had no problem whatsoever with the conscience refusal! What a shocking surprise! Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, used language that should send a chill down our spines: “This is a health care issue … it was based on what’s good for women’s health.” Such logic could easily be used to require Catholic hospitals to not only cover abortions, but even perform them, as long as in Ms. Richard’s words, abortions are considered a health care issue and are good, even essential, to women’s health. That Planned Parenthood already believes this to be true is a matter of record. Perhaps the issue of ‘gay marriage’ could also be presented in such a way that it becomes an matter of basic human rights as well, thereby forcing the Catholic Church to marry same-sex couples or risk losing their tax-exempt status (or worse).
Do not mistake the import of this decision and of its possible long-term ramifications. Whether or not you believe contraception to be morally acceptable, the Catholic Church most certainly does not. To force her institutions to provide coverage for a morally reprehensible action is a clear violation of religious freedom. It is irrelevant that many Catholics flaunt this precept or that most women so covered avail themselves of the coverage or that many or most women who work for Catholic institutions are not even practicing Catholics. Considerations of this type are smokescreens designed to avoid the core issue altogether.
There is absolutely no question that there are forces within our society that ardently disagree with Catholic moral teaching on several issues. These include not only contraception but sterilization, easy divorce laws, gay marriage or civil unions, abortion, embryonic stem cell research, human cloning, harvesting of embryos, in-vitro fertilization, easy access to pornography, artificial insemination and so on. Rest assured that this intrusion into religious rights and freedoms is but one salvo in an ongoing battle. If we go down meekly here, then we will continue to be assaulted on other basic religious freedoms. To be forewarned is be to forearmed!
Fr. Stephen Geer
