Catholic Church to President Obama: See You in Court

It was inevitable. To protect itself and its institutions from an unprecedented HHS mandate that violates religious liberty, 43 Catholic organizations have filed lawsuits in a dozen federal jurisdictions across the country asking that the mandate be declared unconstitutional. Two of the primary litigants are the Archdiocese of New York, headed by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, and Notre Dame University. These two litigants are significant because Cardinal Dolan and the President of Notre Dame were both personally assured by President Obama that respect for religious freedom was important to him. So much for empty words.

Cardinal Dolan called the lawsuits “a compelling display of the unity of the Church in defense of religious liberty.” “We have tried negotiation with the Administration and legislation with the Congress — and we’ll keep at it — but there’s still no fix,” continued Dolan.

In addition to the lawsuits, the General Counsel of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Anthony Picarello, Jr., sent a 21-page letter to the Obama Administration denouncing the mandate and outlining the concerns of the Church. “We believe that this mandate is unjust and unlawful — it is bad health policy, and because it entails an element of government coercion against conscience, it creates a religious freedom problem,” says the letter. Picarello states the obvious — that individuals, insurance companies and employers with a moral objection to the mandate will have to either violate their consciences to comply, or drop their health insurance coverage as some Catholic institutions have already done.

“The simplest and best solution…is the one the Administration so far has declined to adopt: to rescind the mandate. Failing this, the Administration should provide an exemption that protects all stakeholders with a religious or moral objection, in keeping with the consistent language and longstanding tradition of federal conscience protection law,” the letter states.

Wisconsin Right to Life remains concerned that the preventive health services provision of the Obamacare law, which provides the authority for the HHS mandate, could be used in the future to declare that there is an abortion mandate.

Barbara Lyons