Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, chairman of the USCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities, has urged all members of the U.S. House of Representatives to support a bipartisan bill protecting conscience rights in health insurance.

Introduced by Reps. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) and Dan Boren (D-OK), the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act of 2011 (HR 1179) â€œwill help ensure that the new health care reform act is not misused to violate the religious freedom and rights of conscience of those who offer and purchase health insurance coverage in our nation,â€ Cardinal DiNardo wrote, a USCCB statement says.

â€œFederal law, until now, has never prevented the issuers and purchasers of health coverage from negotiating a health plan that is consistent with their moral and religious convictions,â€ Cardinal DiNardo explained. â€œThis could change, however, with implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) as now written.â€ He noted that the law â€œestablishes a new list of â€˜essential health benefitsâ€™ that will be mandatory for most health plans throughout the United States,â€ and also â€œrequires all group and individual plans to cover general â€˜preventive services,â€™ as well as additional preventive services specifically for women.â€

â€œFor months,â€ Cardinal DiNardo wrote, â€œPlanned Parenthood and other groups have been urging that mandated â€˜preventive services for womenâ€™ include all drugs and devices approved by the FDA for contraceptionâ€”including those that can prevent the implantation and survival of a newly conceived human being, and hence are seen as abortifacient by the Catholic Church and many others.â€

â€œMandated inclusion of contraception, sterilization and abortifacient drugs in health plans poses an obvious potential conflict with rights of conscience,â€ Cardinal DiNardo wrote. â€œSuch conflicts would also arise if HHS mandates inclusion of some fertility treatments such as in vitro fertilization, treatments using material from deliberately killed unborn children, or other procedures specifically rejected by the teachings of some religions.â€

PPACA â€œarbitrarily and inexplicably does not protect the many religious denominations â€“ including those providing the backbone of the nonprofit health care system in this country â€“ whose moral teaching rejects specific procedures,â€ Cardinal DiNardo said. â€œIf religious and other stakeholders are driven out of the health insurance marketplace by this aspect of PPACA, legislation whose purpose was to expand health coverage could have the opposite effect.â€

The Respect for Rights of Conscience Act â€œis modest and well-crafted legislationâ€¦it only prevents PPACA itself from being misused to deny Americansâ€™ existing freedom to seek health care coverage that meets their medical needs and respects their deepest convictions,â€ he wrote. â€œI am sure that most members of Congress voting for PPACA did not intend that it should deny or take away this freedom. Therefore I hope and expect that Representatives who supported PPACA as well as those who opposed it will join in co-sponsoring the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act and in helping to ensure its enactment.â€

SOURCE

Cardinal DiNardo Urges Support for â€˜Respect for Rights of Conscience Actâ€™ (USCCB)

DiNardo Letter.

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