the u.s. catholic bishops,.pdf

Marquette Universitye-******@munication Faculty Research and munication, College of7-1-2013The . Catholic Bishops, “Religious Freedom,”and the 2012 Presidential Election Campaign: AReflectionSteven R. GoldzwigMarquette University, steven.******@ & Public Affairs, Vol. 16, No. 2 (Summer 2013): 369- Link.? Michigan State University Press 2013. Used with . CATHOLICBISHOPS,“RELIGIOUSFREEDOM,”AND THE2012 PRESIDENTIALELECTIONCAMPAIGN:AREFLECTIONSTEVENR. GOLDZWIG“Let’s honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion, and draft asensible conscience clause, and make sure that all of our health care policiesare grounded not only in sound science, but also in clear ethics, as well asrespect for the equality of women. Those are things we can do.”Barack Obama1On June 28, 2012, the . Supreme Court upheld the constitution-ality of BarackObama’sAffordable CareAct(ACA).Whilerightlyperceived as a major victory for the administration, not all wereappeased or satisf?ed. In particular, before the Supreme Court ruling, . Catholic Bishops had been actively opposing the ACAon a number offronts, including statements directed to . Catholics, calls for remediallegislation, andlitigation in the courts. In fact, the . Catholic bishops hadjoined dozens of anizations in suing the federal governmentover some of the administration’s key health care provisions. In particular,Health and HumanServices (HHS) mandates were viewed as an attempt tocoerce employers to pay for health care plan provisions assisting in femalesterilization andcontraceptives, including abortifacients. In addition, it wasasserted that the ACA would exclude undocumented immigrants fromparticipation in the proposed heath care exchanges. Thus, fromthe bishops’point of view, both Catholic conscience andCatholic action was on in the bishops’ opposition to the Obama administration’s healthcare plans, the bishops det