Wow, This Must Matter

So the Department of Health an Human services made a rule requiring all health insurance companies to provide sterilization procedures, contraception including the “morning after pill” (which can cause spontaneous abortions) and tubal ligation.

In response Cardinal-designate Tim Dolan (president of the USCCB) immediate spoke out against it in video, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops have been publishing things like the six things people ought to know, and our own Archbishop George Lucas had a letter in our bulletin February 5th, will have another this weekend and has said "We will not comply" in his podcast (at the link, look to the bottom right under 'Podcasts' for the 2/3 podcast.) The Army said that a letter written by Archbishop Broglio could not be read at Mass because they thought it sounded like a call to civil disobedience.

So why are all of these old, celibate

dudes so excited about this?

It must matter.

While the Wall Street Journal has has called the mandate unconstitutional and illegal, on the underlying principle, a Business Journal has declared it is Time to Admit It: The Church Has Always Been Right On Birth Control. Dr. Janet Smith points out how prophetically accurate Pope Paul VI's encyclical Humanae Vitae was on birth control.

Maybe we ought know

more about this teaching?

While one of the expectations of parishioners at St. Columbkille Parish is to believe the teachings of the Church, we don't say everyone must do this with blind faith. If you question or disagree with this teaching, we encourage you to study it closer. There are resources available for that.

Hidden on the Omaha Archdiocese's website is a video teaching on Humanae Vitae by Archbishop Lucas. Archbishop Lucas said that Pope John Paul II took Humanae Vitae and "put it to music" with his teaching on the Theology of the Body. The teachings that came to be known as the Theology of the Body were not made to counter birth control, but to show the inherent dignity in the Human Being. When understand, it is obvious that birth control contradicts that truth.

In our diocese, the Family Life Office has developed a three hour "come and see” class on the beauty of marital intimacy and responsible love which includes education on the biological basis of NFP and details on charts and usage statistics; all in the context of the Church's care for us.  The class is led by certified teachers from the Couple-to-Couple League and FertilityCare Centers.  Couples attending have the opportunity to ask candid questions of practicing NFP couples as well as spend time in couple prayer and discussion.  The cost is $25 per couple.  For more information, contact Heidi Emanuel at the Family Life Office at 402.551.9003. (Unfortunately there are not dates for it online.)

As you understand this, you may ask:

What should I do

to oppose this?

While the US Bishops have advocated an online petition with pre-written text asking for your Congressman to co-sponsor legislation against it, the reality is that Nebraska Congressman Jeff Fortenberry is THE sponsor of the legislation which he introduced about 11 months ago (well before this rule was made.) So it would be appropriate to write him and say thanks. You could also contact Congressman Lee Terry, Senator Ben Nelson and Senator Mike Johanns, all of whom have expressed their opposition to the HHS mandate. 

What Else?

It is important to know your faith so you can discuss this with others when it comes up. Also, as one woman points out, this is an issue that should be taken up with your doctor. Stacy Trasancos wrote:

 

It is I who should have been decrying this all along. It’s not just unacceptable for the doctor to push it on a Catholic woman, it’s unacceptable for any doctor in any Catholic institution to even make it available, and women have the unique opportunity to say so directly to the doctors they visit. How many do that though?

Think about it. If a doctor is willing to prescribe abortifacient drugs or abortifacient devices, then the doctor is willing to induce abortions. If we wouldn’t let a practicing sex offender examine our children, then why for Heaven’s sake would we let a practicing abortionist deliver them?

Unless I have looked at every doctor along the way for the last three decades in the face and told them why contraception, sterilization and abortion are immoral, and demanded they stop offering it lest I seek new medical professionals to care for my body and my family, then I really have no foundation for any outrage today at all. Yes, I confess, I’ve walked out of doctor’s offices and ignored the contraception ads hanging on the wall, just glad I did “the right thing.” But I failed. I should have spoken up, right then, right there, directly to the medical professionals.

Mea culpa