Bishop blasts Obama's healthcare plan

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - A new federal law concerning birth control pills is stirring up controversy in Buffalo's Catholic community.

Newt Gingrich took aim at it after Tuesday night's Florida Primary, and here in Buffalo, Bishop Edward Kmiec has written a letter to all parishes urging Catholics to fight a new federal mandate that will require all employers, even Catholic employers, to provide healthcare for their employees that covers birth control. The Bishop says, "We cannot, we will not comply with this unjust law."

Gingrich said, "Many of you may have noticed that the Obama Administration has declared war on the Catholic Chruch and other religious institutions."

Diocesan spokesman Kevin Keenan said, "This mandate will force Catholics and Catholic employers to violate our conscience. It will force us to cover, for example, contraception in healthcare plans. The Catholic Church is against this and yet the federal government is saying you must provide this and that's an attack on our religious liberty."

It would apply to employees at all the Catholic Hospitals and schools. Western new York has seven Catholic colleges and universities, including St. Bonaventure and Canisius. All of their employees would have to get this type of healthcare coverage.

Elizabeth Harned of Planned Parenthood of WNY said, "We applaud the Obama Administration's decision."

Planned Parenthood sees it more as a matter of health.

"It's Planned Parenthood's position that it is vital for people to have access to birth control and to have coverage in their insurance plans for access to birth control, because medical research and science bear out that it leads to better health outcomes, and people of all faith utilize our services," argued Harned.

You can learn more about this law here. Below is the full copy of the letter sent by the Bishop.

My Dear Diocesan Family,

I write to you concerning an alarming and serious matter that negatively impacts the Church in the United States directly, and that strikes at the fundamental right to religious liberty for all citizens of any faith. The federal government, which claims to be "of, by, and for the people," has just dealt a heavy blow to almost a quarter of those people-the Catholic population-and to the millions more who are served by the Catholic faithful.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced last week that almost all employers, including Catholic employers, will be forced to offer their employees' health coverage that includes sterilization, abortion-inducing drugs, and contraception. Almost all health insurers will be forced to include those "services" in the health policies they write. And almost all individuals will be forced to buy that coverage as a part of their policies.

In so ruling, 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). The Administration's sole concession was to give our institutions one year to comply.

We cannot-we will not-comply with this unjust law. People of faith cannot be made second class citizens. We are already joined by our brothers and sisters of all faiths and many others of good will in this important effort to regain our religious freedom. Our parents and grandparents did not come to these shores to help build America's cities and towns, its infrastructure and institutions, its enterprise and culture, only to have their posterity stripped of their God given rights. In generations past, the Church has always been able to count on the faithful to stand up and protect her sacred rights and duties. I hope and trust she can count on this generation of Catholics to do the same. Our children and grandchildren deserve nothing less.

And therefore, I would ask of you two things. First, as a community of faith we must commit ourselves to prayer and fasting that wisdom and justice may prevail, and religious liberty may be restored. Without God, we can do nothing; with God, nothing is impossible. Second, I would also recommend visiting www.usccb.org/conscience, to learn more about this severe assault on religious liberty, and how to contact Congress in support of legislation that would reverse the Administration's decision.

Let us continue to pray fervently and work together to protect and defend our religious liberty as Roman Catholics and citizens of the United States of America.

Be assured of my prayers and all best wishes.

Sincerely in Christ,
Most Rev. Edward U. Kmiec
Bishop of Buffalo