This year, the Catholic Church in the United States is being told she must “give up” her health care institutions, her universities and many of her social service organizations. This is not a voluntary sacrifice. It is the consequence of the already much discussed Department of Health and Human Services regulations now filed and promulgated for implementation beginning Aug. 1 of this year...
What will happen if the HHS regulations are not rescinded? A Catholic institution, so far as I can see right now, will have one of four choices: 1) secularize itself, breaking its connection to the church, her moral and social teachings and the oversight of its ministry by the local bishop. This is a form of theft. It means the church will not be permitted to have an institutional voice in public life. 2) Pay exorbitant annual fines to avoid paying for insurance policies that cover abortifacient drugs, artificial contraception and sterilization. This is not economically sustainable. 3) Sell the institution to a non-Catholic group or to a local government. 4) Close down.
Given historical trends on these issues, you can bet that #4 is the most likely. Take a look around your area. How many Catholic institutions are providing vital public services, whether health care, education, or something else? Rest assured, if the Catholic hospital system shuts down, all hell is going to break loose in this nation's health care delivery system.
Of course, when you understand that this is precisely what the president and his cronies want, things make a lot more sense.
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