Dear Friends in Christ,

Last weekend I spoke with you at Masses regarding the HHS Mandate for Contraception/Sterilization Coverage called for by the president and Congress. The mandate will take affect in August and will have a negative impact on religious institutions, particularly those with hospitals, universities, schools, and social service outreach centers such as the Roman Catholic Church. This will also impact you, the Church’s member’s vis-à-vis their abil-ity to freely practice their faith.

The mandate forces religious organizations to provide medical insurance as well as potentially perform certain proce-dures in their hospitals which violate their faith beliefs. The end result: the Catholic Church will be forced to provide coverage for abortions, sterilizations, and other medicines known as abortifa-cients as well as potentially offer medical procedures in their Catholic hospitals which go against the teachings of our Church from its founding by Christ.

This is a violation of our right—and the right of all religions—to practice religious freedom—a guarantee af-forded by this nation since December 15, 1791. This constitu-tional right, created by the wisdom of our Founding Fathers, is a pillar of our society that has made America the greatest nation on earth when it comes to the ability for religions to live side-by-side in relative peace and to coexist with a government that professes no one religion as singularly superior.

In 2008, during Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the United States, the Holy Father remarked about the fact that America’s religious pluralism worked well and benefitted our nation. This truth can be seen in the fact that it is the Roman Catholic Church that is second only to the U.S. government in providing health care, social services, education, refugee services, and pastoral care to our citizens. It is amazing that a government that benefits so much and so directly from the work and charitable actions of the Catholic Church would seek to attack that same Church’s right to practice its faith.

In no uncertain terms, the idea of religious freedom is under attack. Many want to replace religion with the government, making it the provider of all things in society. Since the founding of our nation, religions have played a major role in the betterment of society in both spiritual and very practical ways: feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, welcoming refugees to new shores, educating the masses, and more. To be sure, the debate at hand is not about the right of women to access health care. It is about religious freedom. If an individual wants medical coverage that pays for abortions and sterilizations, then the choice is to work for a company that pays for that. If you want to have an abortion or a sterilization procedure done or receive abortifacients, then the choice is to go to a public or private hospital. Your choice. How-ever, the HHS mandate forced by our government removes all

choices—including the one of religious freedom.

We must act now and decisively to protect our religious freedoms from the forced violation of our articles of faith. And we need your help.

The reaction to this impending government attack on religious freedom has been amazing so far—to the point that even the nightly news has had to cover the number of individuals call-ing their Congressional representatives to disagree with President Obama’s call "not to back down" from the Catholic bishops’ call for a "Respect for Rights of Conscientious Act". But more people need to be heard from.

I hope that every Catholic—indeed every person of faith—will educate themselves about this issue of religious liberty and contact their federal legislators to demand that the "conscientious clause" be added to this new federal health care mandate. To that end, please read and pray over the informa-tional insert in this weekend’s bulletin and then contact Senators Lieberman and Blumenthal as well as Congressman Chris Mur-phy. Their contact information is below.

I believe knowledge is important. This week while I was at Bed, Bath and Beyond, a lady approached me and asked "Why do you guys have to force your faith on the rest of us?" After a moment of bewilderment, we talked about the issue at hand. I was amazed at how full of misinformation this individual was about this issue. I told her the facts and reminded her that it is a choice to be a Catholic and to work in a Catholic institution. No one forces you to attend Mass or work at St. Francis Hospital. We are Catholics, practicing ones at least, because we freely ascent to Articles of Faith. No one forces anyone to be a practicing Catho-lic. On the other hand, the health care mandate ordered by the current government carries with it the "force of law" and offers no person or institution a choice, even as it violates the faith beliefs of the individual or organization.

As Catholic Christians we believe that Christ taught us that all human life is a gift from God and is sacred, made in His likeness and image. To be forced by our federal government to participate in practices that violates this truth, is nothing less than being forced to participate in sin.

As Americans, we must all be concerned about our rights as Citizens. The issue at hand is bigger than any one medical is-sue for sure. The central issue at hand is that the United States Constitution provides for the free practice of religious liberty and the new federal health insurance mandate violates our religious freedom and our U.S. Constitution. This liberty should be de-fended by every American, whether one holds firm to articles of faith or not. Thank you for your prayerful consideration of this very important issue.

The Honorable Joseph I. Lieberman
1 Constitution Plaza, 7th Floor, Hartford, Conn 06103
Phone: 860-549-8463
Fax: 866-317-2242
Website: www.lieberman.senate.gov/

The Honorable Richard Blumenthal
90 State House Sq., 10th Floor, Hartford, Conn 06103
Phone: 860-258-6940
Fax: 860-258-6958
Website: www.blumenthal.senate.gov/

The Honorable Christopher Murphy
114 West Main St., Suite 206, New Britain, Conn 06051
Phone: 860-223-8412
Fax: 860-827-9009
Website: www.chrismurphy.house.gov/