WASHINGTON (EWTN NEWS)—An amendment providing a religious exemption to the Obama administration’s contraception mandate was prevented from coming to a vote in the U.S. Senate on Feb. 15.
“This is supposed to be a body where we have open discussion, where any member can offer any amendment to any bill at any time,” said Sen. Dan Coats, R-Ind.
He criticized the Senate’s majority leader, Harry Reid, D-Nev., for shutting off the opportunity to introduce new amendments to a bill that was under discussion in the Senate.
“I think the American people want more than that,” he said.
Coats is one of several senators who has spoken out strongly against a controversial insurance mandate announced recently by the Obama administration. Critics of the mandate argue that it forces religious employers to purchase health-insurance plans that violate their consciences.
In recent days, Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., has attempted to introduce a bipartisan amendment that would have allowed employers to opt out of providing coverage that violates their “religious beliefs or moral convictions.”
Reid had initially indicated that he would allow the amendment to be introduced on Feb. 15.
However, he then blocked it through a procedure known as “filling the tree,” by which the majority leader fills all possible openings for amendments on a piece of legislation, thereby preventing other senators from offering further amendments.
Reid had criticized the proposed amendment, saying that it was “senseless” and premature because all of the details regarding the mandate are not yet clear.
The Obama administration has been the center of controversy over its new mandate, which would require many religious employers to purchase insurance plans including contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs.
Faced with outcry from both religious and secular groups, President Barack Obama on Feb. 10 announced an “accommodation” for religious freedom. Instead of having employers purchase the controversial coverage directly, the new policy would require them to buy health-care plans from insurance companies that would be required to offer such coverage free of charge.
Blunt called the new policy an “accounting gimmick,” joining with numerous other critics who argued that the “accommodation” failed to provide adequate protection for religious freedom.
He argued that his amendment was important to safeguard the rights laid out by the American founders in the First Amendment.
By amending a transportation bill that was already up for debate in the Senate, Blunt’s proposal would have given the issue immediate attention in the Senate.
However, other legislative efforts to fight the mandate are already under way.
Among the most prominent of these efforts is the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act, introduced by Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., which currently has 190 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives.
In addition, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., has introduced the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 2012, which has 29 co-sponsors in the Senate.
All U.S. bishops have called for continued legislative efforts to oppose the mandate and defend the religious liberty of the American people.
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Boy, do you all need a bit of education about what is really going on.
It is even embarrassing to think about here. All the super Catholics make a stink about HHs and they are already doing what you fear the most and it is obvious. Those outside of us know this and that is why they are really laughing at us.
I support not having tax dollars pay for BC, but sorry to say they are already paying for all forms of birth control at student clinics that are on campus. I will stress however, that our local school districts do not NOT NOT DISTRIBUTE CONTRACEPTIVES IN OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM.
But the young adults, it is another story with them.
IT IS A KNOWN FACT THAT all public universities, meaning colleges ARE SUPPORTED by local and state AND FEDERAL TAX DOLLARS, MEANING YOUR MANDATED TO PAY LOCAL CATHOLIC MONEY. So don’t shoot the messenger here but YOUR GOOD CATHOLIC MONEY HAS GONE TO PAY FOR AND SUPPORT LIKE IT OR NOT, STUDENT HEALTH CLINICS WHERE THEY GIVE OUT THE BIRTH CONTROL PILL.
They are NOT PLANNED PARENTHOOD. And Bayer is the number one maker of the pill. I will never take another Bayer aspirin again. To buy it supports the making of the pill.
Sorry this could infuriate some people, but don’t shoot the messenger. I am telling the truth. The only reason they the Magisterium are doing this is BECAUSE IT IS AN ELECTION YEAR AND the season for Grandstanding this issue. It is time to wake up to these facts.
@Jeanne in TampaBay You miss the most important point about this issue. The primary issue is not contraception, but rather the direct government assault on our religious liberties protected by the First Amendment.
May I also suggest that if you wish your posts be taken seriously, spellcheck them before before submission and avoid long strings of capital letters. Your argument is not made stronger by shouting.
Sadly, Jeanne, you do need much more education on this issue. First, this mandate is illegal and against our constitution. Second, this is about government takeover of more of our lives. This opens the door to more intrusion. The next issue it intrudes on may hit home for you but it will be too late. Our rights will already be too compromised. Third, it more than birth control; abortificants are mandated as well. All the above points are clearly discussed in articles within this publication. I suggest you inform yourself more on this issue.
Thank you, Jeanne. You are correct about the political antics. Unfortunately, most of the public is just plain dumb and dances with the devil out of habit. We blindly, lazily fall into line, so sheepishly, behind our incompetent leaders.
This is a First Amendment issue not a BC issue. The Church will not and should not ‘bend’ and ‘cave’ to this law made by the President (not congress!). The Church since the Apostles and Fathers have always taught that these things are against that faith. We here have the First Amendment to protect their right to excercise that faith. And that the government can not and will not make a law against practicing that Religious Faith. The mandate is a violation of the First Amendment of our Constitution first and foremost and an over-reaching attempt of the Executive Branch of our government. These two aspects will render this HealthCare Law and mandate unconstitutional. It’s not about BC the prize is much, much bigger.
Anthony, How can you say that our leaders are incompetent? Every U.S. bishop has come out against the HHS mandate. I don’t actually know of a bad U.S. bishop today (a complete turnaround from 20 years ago). If you mean our political leaders, the ones pushing for the HHS mandate like Reid and Pelosi are not incompetent. They are highly competent connivers!
Does anyone notice that it is not just Obama assaulting the Catholic Church and the Constitution of the United States but also the entire Marxist Democrat Party. Dirty Harry Reid has blocked every attempt by the GOP to over turn Obamacare and to pass a budget. The Catholic Church needs to finally understand that the Marxist Democrat Party sees us as their enemy. Beyond what they have already said and done, I don’t know what more they need to do to convey the message. It is up to us to stand up and vote them out this November.
While I am not a fan of our (liberal) bishop, he signed the letter the bishop’s prepared, and he distributed it to all parishes in our diocese.
So I am writing him a “thank you” note, congratulating him on his courage and his wisdom in being so vocal about this issue. It truly is about religious freedom.
This weekend, our bishop has asked for every parish to get volunteers to gather signatures, before and after all Masses, to place two moral issues on the ballot: the most important, in my opinion, is to request that young girls (even 12 years of age) that can now be removed from school, to have an abortion, will have to tell their parents first.
The law, as it stands now, is that they do NOT have to tell parents first, or even get permission. Let’s empower our bishops, by standing by them, as long as they are calling for a God-honoring American society, and in this issue, they truly are. This is ALL about Religious Liberty.
We do not want the Freedom of “Worship”. That is a change in the Constitution. We want to keep “Freedom of Religion” here in America, as it has always been. This is not just a Catholic issue.
Are you surprised ? This Democrat dominated and Democrat run Body has not passed a budget in over 1000 days ... why should Kerry and Company care about real Catholics ? Vote the Bums out !!!!!!!
@Aida Cordano: Why are so many people on blogs, rude. Jeanne did not misspell any words and she was not ‘yelling’ by using capital letters, she was EMPHASIZING!
We cannot ‘underline’ or make ‘bold’ certain words on this blog and there is no spell check…..at least not on my computer [on this page]
After all that has been said and done, does Obama and the Marxist Democrat Party leave any doubt that they hate the Catholic Church and the Constitution of the United States. Yet it is amazing to hear so many people who are in an intellectual trance. We Catholics need to come together and vote out Obama and the Marxist Democrat Party this November.
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