Dozens of church leaders around the country are wasting no time in reaching out to parishioners this week, urging them to oppose a new, federal mandate that forces faith–based employers to include sterilization, drugs like the morning after pill, and artificial contraception in their employees health coverage.
Sioux City's Bishop, R. Walker Nickless, is no exception.
In a letter, he writes: "The Administration has cast aside the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, denying to Catholics our nation's first and most fundamental freedom, that of religious liberty. And as a result, unless the rule is overturned, we Catholics will be compelled either to violate our consciences, or to drop health coverage for our employees (and suffer the penalties for doing so)."
While offering such coverage might deny Catholics their freedoms and liberties, advocates of the rule say not offering it would deny women theirs. And not only when it comes to managing unwanted pregnancies.
Dr. Shauna Bose of Family Health Care in Sioux City, says, "Even for their health sometimes. It's more for if they have painful periods or irregular periods. And insurances cover a lot of things for males, like Viagra and Cialis, but a lot of times, women's birth control options can be limited."
And yes, even for Catholics.
Interestingly enough, William D'Antonio, a sociologist at the Catholic University of America, has found that 95% of Catholics use contraceptives, and 89% say the decision to use them should be theirs, not the church's.
Numbers that many local priests worry will only get higher with the mandate in place.
Fr. William Vit, with the Cathedral of the Epiphany, says, "This really just plays off that percentage. And if a person isn't educated about what their faith is teaching them, then they're also not going to be so strong to stand up for what we should be standing up for."
With this mandate, churches are exempt. Catholic universities, Catholic-based charities and group affiliated with Methodists, Baptists, along with other denominations, are not.
