Pittsburgh’s bishop, David A Zubik, issued a strong statement in reaction to the HHS mandate targeting Catholic institutions. According to Bishop Zubik, “The Obama administration has just told the Catholics of the United States, ‘To Hell with you!’ There is no other way to put it.”
Bishop Zubik went on to say, ” A million things are wrong with this: equating pregnancy with disease; mandating that every employer pay for contraception procedures including alleged contraceptives that are actually abortion-inducing drugs; forcing American citizens to chose between violating their consciences or providing health care services; mandating such coverage on every individual woman without allowing her to even choose not to have it; forcing every person to pay for that coverage no matter the dictates of their conscience. . . .”
After recalling the requests that he and Catholic laity in the Pittsburgh diocese made to the Obama administration to have the original mandate withdrawn and the religious freedom of Catholic institutions respected, Bishop Zubik explained: “On January 20, 2012, the Obama administration answered you and me. The response was very simple: . . . Kathleen Sebelius and through her, the Obama administration, have said ‘To Hell with You’ to the Catholic faithful of the United States.
- To Hell with your religious beliefs,
- To Hell with your religious liberty,
- To Hell with your freedom of conscience.”
The entire statement, which includes suggested action steps and resources, can be found by clicking the link for the Diocese of Pittsburgh's website.
The Catholic Medical Association will work with Bishop Zubik and all the bishops of the United States to fight this malicious and unjust mandate. No legitimate means of protest is off the table, from lawsuits to public demonstrations to petitioning Congress to civil disobedience.
