Church Blog

The 2010 comprehensive health care reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), poses new risks to religious freedom and rights of conscience. To correct these problems, Reps. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) and Dan Boren (D-OK) introduced the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act (H.R. 1179). This measure will ensure that those who participate in the health care system “retain the right to provide, purchase, or enroll in health coverage that is consistent with their religious beliefs and moral convictions” and ensure that PPACA does not create new pressures to exclude these participants from PPACA’s plans or programs.

In an April 6 letter to Congress, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, stated that PPACA’s list of “essential health benefits” and a separate list of mandated “preventive services for women” may be used to require almost all private health plans to cover various procedures rejected by teachings of some religions, such as abortifacients, contraception, sterilization, in vitro fertilization, and treatments using material from deliberately killed unborn children. PPACA includes no provision to keep such lists of mandated benefits from violating conscience. Cardinal DiNardo urged Representatives to co-sponsor H.R. 1179 and promote its passage.

Recent developments have only confirmed the need for H.R. 1179. On July 19, an advisory body recommended to the Department of Health and Human Services a list of “preventive services” for women to be covered under PPACA. Cardinal DiNardo objected to the report’s mandated coverage not only for surgical sterilization but also for “all FDA-approved birth control (including the IUD, ‘morning-after’ pills, and the abortion-inducing drug Ella)” and for “education and counseling” to promote these among all “women of reproductive capacity.” If HHS accepts these recommendations, all insurance plans will be required to cover these controversial practices without a co-pay from recipients. “The considerable cost of these practices will be paid by all who participate in health coverage. . . . [S]uch a mandate would require all . . . to carry health coverage that violates the deeply-held moral and religious convictions of many.” Now it is “especially critical” for Members of Congress to co-sponsor and pass H.R. 1179.