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Less than two weeks after the Obama administration ruled that Catholic institutions must pay for health care plans that include abortifacient drugs, contraceptives, and sterilisation, already some 65 per cent of the bishops in the United States have denounced the decision and spoken out in defence of religious freedom. Notable among them is Cardinal Roger Mahony, Archbishop Emeritus of Los Angeles, hitherto regarded as sympathetic to the President, who was unsparing in his condemnation of the latest assault on religious freedom.
 
 
The Catholic Vote blog has a running list of the bishops who have issued public statements, many of which were read at Masses last weekend. To date, there are 126 bishops on the list, with links to their statements. There are 197 dioceses in the United States.
 
“The Obama administration has now drawn an unprecedented line in the sand,” Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan said the day of the decision. “The Catholic bishops are committed to working with our fellow Americans to reform the law and change this unjust regulation,” the New York archbishop, who is also president of the US episcopal conference, affirmed. “We will continue to study all the implications of this troubling decision.”
 
 
Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Cardinal Dolan pointed out that it is scarcely two weeks ago since the US Supreme Court unanimously reaffirmed principles of religious freedom found in the US Constitution. “Yet the Obama administration has veered in the opposite direction. It has refused to exempt religious institutions that serve the common good—including Catholic schools, charities and hospitals—from its sweeping new health-care mandate that requires employers to purchase contraception, including abortion-producing drugs, and sterilization coverage for their employees.”
 
The archbishop noted that the rules are accomodating of other religious groups, but not Catholics. “The Amish do not carry health insurance. The government respects their principles. Christian Scientists want to heal by prayer alone, and the new health-care reform law respects that. Quakers and others object to killing even in wartime, and the government respects that principle for conscientious objectors. By its decision, the Obama administration has failed to show the same respect for the consciences of Catholics and others who object to treating pregnancy as a disease.”
Zenit. January 30. Catholic Vote. January 30. The Wall Street Journal. January 25.