US Bishops: Biden debate statement wrong

USCCB Responds To Inaccurate Statement Of Fact On HHS Mandate Made During Vice Presidential Debate
 




October 12, 2012

WASHINGTON--The U.S. Conference of
Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued the following statement, October 12. Full text follows:

Last night, the following statement was
made during the Vice Presidential debate regarding the decision of the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to force virtually all employers
to include sterilization and contraception, including drugs that may cause abortion,
in the health insurance coverage they provide their employees:

"With regard to the assault on the Catholic
Church,
let me make it absolutely clear. No religious institution--Catholic or
otherwise, including Catholic social services, Georgetown hospital,
Mercy
hospital, any hospital--none has to either refer contraception, none has
to pay
for contraception, none has to be a vehicle to get contraception in any
insurance policy they provide. That is a fact. That is a fact."

This is not a fact. The HHS mandate contains
a narrow, four-part exemption for certain "religious employers." That exemption
was made final in February and does not extend to "Catholic social services,
Georgetown hospital, Mercy hospital, any hospital," or any other religious charity
that offers its services to all, regardless of the faith of those served.

HHS has proposed an additional "accommodation"
for religious organizations like these, which HHS itself describes as
"non-exempt." That proposal does not even potentially relieve these
organizations from the obligation "to pay for contraception" and "to be a
vehicle to get contraception." They will have to serve as a vehicle, because
they will still be forced to provide their employees with health coverage, and
that coverage will still have to include sterilization, contraception, and
abortifacients. They will have to pay for these things, because the premiums that
the organizations (and their employees) are required to pay will still be
applied, along with other funds, to cover the cost of these drugs and
surgeries.

USCCB continues to urge HHS, in the
strongest possible terms, actually to eliminate the various infringements on
religious freedom imposed by the mandate.

For more details, please see USCCB's
regulatory comments filed on May 15 regarding the proposed "accommodation": www.usccb.org/about/general-counsel/rulemaking/upload/comments-on-advance-notice-of-proposed-rulemaking-on-preventive-services-12-05-15.pdf