The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed piece of New York’s Archbishop, Timothy Michael Dolan, today. You can read the entire op-ed piece of Archbishop Dolan here: WSJ-ObamaCare-and-Religious-Freedom.pdf
An excerpt follows:
Coercing religious ministries and citizens to pay directly for actions that violate their teaching is an unprecedented incursion into freedom of conscience. Organizations fear that this unjust rule will force them to take one horn or the other of an unacceptable dilemma: Stop serving people of all faiths in their ministries–so that they will fall under the narrow exemption–or stop providing health-care coverage to their own employees.
The Catholic Church defends religious liberty, including freedom of conscience, for everyone. 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.
Timothy Michael Dolan, PhD
Archbishop of New York
Wall Street Journal
25 January 2012